Overview

Community hubs are an idea that both community and policy-makers agree make sense. The government has been encouraging school boards to right size given changing demographics and in order to ensure educational program quality. Accordingly, school boards are and should continue to diligently review their short and long term needs. In some cases, this may result in the closure of a school, which could lead to a long-term lease or the potential sale.

To reduce barriers to the formation of community hubs as this work continues, we are recommending that an interim measure be put in place to ensure additional consideration of community and provincial interests when sale of school property is contemplated.

On an expedited basis, we recommend pursuing an interim amendment to O. Reg. 444/98 to extend the 90-day circulation period of surplus property to 180 days. Further, we recommend a limited exemption to the requirement that properties be sold at Fair Market Value (FMV) as outlined below. The Ministry of Education will conduct further consultations and review of this regulation. This interim change would operate as follows:

Step 1

As outlined in the Ministry of Education’s new Community Planning and Partnership Guideline, municipalities/LHINs/agencies/the Province and other community partners (including Aboriginal and non-profit organizations) should be determining their local space needs to feed into the decision-making process around school buildings or land, before and during any pupil accommodation review that boards undertake to determine how to reorganize schools to best serve student achievement and well-being. Should the school board determine that a school is not needed for educational purposes, the community planning process will have identified if there is a community interest.

We would recommend that the Community Hubs Secretariat work with the Ministries of Education and Municipal Affairs and Housing to monitor this new Guideline to ensure it is meeting the needs that we heard from community organizations in the preparation of this report.

Step 2

As the school board circulates the property to public entities in accordance with O. Reg. 444/98, where:

  • the school is not sold to another school board; and
  • there is a viable community plan supported by a strong business case for the purchase of that property for a community hub; and
  • Fair Market Value (FMV) is a barrier.

Then, the School Board and community partner(s) can apply to the Province for a limited exemption to the FMV requirement. The Province will determine if it is viable, serves a public purpose, and meets all the other requirements, and will then determine an appropriate purchase price. If approved, the offset for the partial variance on the fair market price would be found by either a revenue tool or through a provincial funding mechanism, to be defined, and the school board would be made “whole.” The purchase would need to be subject to a condition that the property could not subsequently be resold for profit.

Step 3

The Province will change its internal process to more actively connect with ministries to determine if there is any provincial interest in the property. If so, the Province could purchase the site for its own requirements or to sell with a focus on meeting an identified need (e.g., sell to a municipality to provide affordable housing).

Note: O. Reg. 444/98 currently requires circulation of surplus properties. School boards use Infrastructure Ontario’s Realty Circulation Publication website to notify the Ontario government about surplus school property. Infrastructure Ontario, in turn, circulates the information about surplus property to various public entities, including other provincial ministries. This recommendation contemplates a more active process.

Step 4

If there is no provincial interest or viable community plan, a school board would proceed to sell at FMV.