2009 SPACE Report: Progress and Pitfalls

Posted on 16. Jun, 2009 by Christopher in Reports

A Review of Community Use of Schools and Access to Municipal Spaces

Executive Summary

Prior to the provincial Community Use of Schools Policy and funding (CUS), fees for community use of schools had risen sharply across Ontario, resulting in closures of programs and steep declines in use. The CUS program was launched in July 2004 with a $20 million investment, followed by a further enhancement in February 2008, with a province-wide plan to increase funding from $20 million to $66 million by 2012.

In March and April of 2009, SPACE (Saving Public Access to Community Space Everywhere), a provincial coalition, and Social Planning Toronto (SPT), a nonprofit community organization, conducted a follow-up survey to our 2005 and 2007 evaluations of the provincial CUS policy, program and funding (SPACE/CSPC-T, 2005; SPACE/CSPC-T, 2007). We received 358 survey responses from organizations
across Ontario. This year we also investigated community access to municipal facilities.

The survey aimed to:

  1. determine the changing levels of access in public schools, and monitor the impact of provincial CUS funding;
  2. determine levels of access to municipal facilities;
  3. identify trends, gaps and recommendations to improve equitable and affordable access to school and municipal spaces.

The SPACE Coalition believes that community use of public space, including schools and municipal facilities, is a cornerstone of healthy neighbourhoods and communities, promoting affordable and equitable access for all residents. The Ontario government’s Policy Statement on CUS also promotes the principles of affordable, fair and equitable community access to our schools. We hope the results of this survey will help to increase access and decrease barriers to community use of space within the provincial and municipal government and boards of education.

Key Findings

Areas of Improvement

As a result of provincial CUS investments, community use of schools is now more stable and predictable compared to conditions in the early 2000s when usage levels had dropped dramatically.

  • A range of community organizations using school and municipal space provide services to many age groups.
  • 77% of respondents reported fees to permit schools had not changed over the past year.
  • 7% of respondents reported their school access fees were reduced.
  • 32% of organizations reported an increase in their use of school space in 2008-09.
  • 58% reported that municipal permit fees remained stable, and 1% reported a decrease in fees.

Continuing Barriers

  • 16% of organizations holding school permits reported an increase in permit fees.
  • 26% of school permit holders stated they had to reduce or cancel programs because of high permit fees or the lack of available space and facilities.
  • Barriers to community use of schools continue to include high fees, a complicated permit process and use restrictions.
  • There are widely varying fee rates and rules across the province despite use of CUS funds by Ontario school boards.
  • 55% of organizations using school space report that permit rules and regulations are unclear.
  • 22% of organizations reported a decrease in use of school space in 2008-2009.
  • 41% of respondents holding municipal permits reported fee increases in 2008-09.
  • Most of the respondents accessing community space are established community groups and nonprofit organizations that have been in existence for an average of 46 years
  • Older, more established agencies are statistically more likely to hold school permits than newer agencies.

We applaud the government’s strong policy statement that envisions schools as hubs of communities, with a focus on access and equity, and believe this should direct reforms to the CUS program and guide the creation of municipal policy on the community use of public space. There are still areas for improvement where action is required. Barriers to accessing schools remain despite CUS funding. Permit fees continue to be set at the discretion of each school board, resulting in a patchwork of fees and usage rates. Even established organizations are hindered by unclear permit policies and rules, and barriers such as fee rates. Unclear policies could be a deterrent to newer and less established organizations, consequently they may be less likely to access public spaces. Transparency around the spending of provincial funds and the monitoring of program implementation to ensure its compatibility with policy objectives continues to be a concern. Greater accountability from boards of education and the Province is needed to guarantee that funding is achieving public policy goals and meeting community access needs in a fair and equitable manner.

Summary Recommendations

The SPACE Coalition and Social Planning Toronto recommend that:

  1. The Government of Ontario implement the 2008-2012 CUS funding commitment and increase levels of CUS funding, ensuring school boards lower fees further and increase space available throughout the year at more times including summer weekends, evenings, and after school.
  2. School boards across Ontario improve the permit application process so it is straightforward, user-friendly, transparent, accessible and accountable, with input from stakeholders.
  3. The Province and school boards should work with community stakeholders to improve accountability by strengthening the CUS program evaluation process.
  4. The Province should work with municipalities and community stakeholders to improve access to municipal public space.

Download the full report here in PDF format.

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