Community Hubs and Vaughan Road Academy
One of the primary concerns of the Oakwood Vaughan Neighbourhood Action Partnership is the present and future use of the building which, through to the end of the 2016-2017 school year, housed Vaughan Road Academy (VRA, 529 Vaughan Rd.), a public high school under the jurisdiction of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). While no longer an operating school, the TDSB voted in February 2017 to retain the building as a "core holding," and put it to use for purposes still to-be-negotiated. OV NAP has been especially engaged in discussions to convert the VRA property into a "community hub," where, while still under ownership of the TDSB, the building would house a number of diverse programs and community services accessible to the public.
In the sections below, you will find items related to both the idea of "community hubs" and the VRA building itself. The first two sections cover events hosted at VRA by OV NAP, where OV NAP members, elected officials and civil servants, and representatives of community organizations discussed with and solicited feedback from the community on the immediate and desired future uses of the building. The section labelled "Government Documents" contains items published by the TDSB, the City of Toronto, and the Province of Ontario either directly related to VRA or community hubs or discussing public programming currently or potentially in operation at the VRA site. Child care is among the few services presently offered at VRA and, owing to its great importance to many in the community, receives its own section, with items related either to child care at VRA or City of Toronto and/or TDSB child care policy. The "Deputations" section contains written versions of oral deputations given by OV NAP members at TDSB committee meetings. The "Press Clippings" section features journalistic articles related to VRA and/or community hubs, sorted by subject.
Further information on each subject is provided under the appropriate sub-section.