Toronto District School Board shuts Toronto Island Natural Science School after decades
The toronto district school board is shutting down the Toronto Island Natural Science School after decades of ferry-linked outdoor learning for students from across the city. Ryan Bird said the closure is part of broader changes to outdoor education programming, with the board also moving to close, lease out or end programming at several other sites.
Toronto Island Natural Science School
Bird said the board has made the difficult decision to close one outdoor education centre, end the leases at two others, and end programming at two in-school locations. In his statement, he said the changes come with tens of millions of dollars in maintenance and repairs required.
The centres affected include Warren Park OEC, which the board said it will close, and Forest Valley OEC and Etobicoke OEC, where leases are ending. The in-school locations ending programming are the Toronto Urban Studies Centre and Island Natural Science School.
Brian Campanotti on the closure
Brian Campanotti said the shutdown caught families off guard. “I think it came as a big surprise to everybody and it’s a little bit disappointing because it is such a unique spot for a lot of inner-city kids to make the trip to and experience the island and no cars,” he said.
He added: “It really is focused on education and sciences and things like that, so it really came as a shock to everybody and I don’t know what the impact is going to be on the Island Public School.” Campanotti said the school has been a long-standing fixture of Toronto education, saying, “Even when I was a kid a million years ago they were sending kids over there, so it’s been a really long-standing fixture of Toronto education and really sad.”
Island Public School
Una Janicijevic said the closure adds pressure for families already thinking about Island Public School. “Obviously we’re also not in favour of the extension of the Billy Bishop airport, so to find out there’s another threat to the school — which is the science school shut down and what that might mean for a small school like Island Public School — was really upsetting,” she said.
She said she has two children in Grade 4 and junior kindergarten and asked what the change means for them in an area without many schools. The board said it still recognizes the importance of outdoor education and plans to work with external sites if demand exceeds capacity at its remaining centres.
