No Permitting of Runnymede School due to a shortage of coal!

The Toronto World March 12th 1920

This evening a special meeting of the Toronto District School Board is voting to increase permitting fees for community organisations wishing to use school facilities out of school hours by about 40%.
The permitting issue is very complicated because currently the TDSB makes a loss when they permit out school facilities. Money which could be used for other purposes e.g. textbooks is financially subsidizing users of school facilities, and placing a workload burden on the care-taking staff. In some cases, for example where non-profit organisations are providing extra-curricular activities which serve the children of the school's catchment area, this would seem to be at least consistent with the mission of the school board. In many cases though, the TDSB is financially subsidising companies who are making additional profit by virtue of renting space at below market values.

It clearly makes sense to increase permitting fees so that at least permit holders are not a drain on the school board.  There does seem to been a need for making a distinction between non-profit community users (who the TDSB probably should not be using as a source of income) and profit-making users who should be paying their way and then some!

As this piece from The Toronto world shows, tough choices have always had to be made about community users of school buildings. When the ratepayers of Ward 7 asked to use the building for a meeting they could not have it heated as there was no coal! More contemporary members of the Ward 7 Education Council will know, the heating goes off in Runnymede Public School in the evening, and by 9pm it can be really, really chilly in the library. Some things never change :-)