The Toronto District School Board is calling on the province to allow it to collect fees from developers to help it pay for renovations, maintenance and school construction.

Trustees say the 7,000 condos recently given the go-ahead by city council will alone bring in almost $6 million for the Toronto Catholic board, which is allowed to levy “education development charges.”

They estimate that in total, the Catholic board will receive almost $50 million, given the current number of building permits issued — and the public board gets nothing, said Trustee Chris Glover. It’s not just a Toronto issue, he said, adding that boards across the province are asking the Ministry of Education for changes.

The Toronto Catholic board can charge developers because, according to the education ministry, it has no excess school space. The Toronto public board, however, is considered to have excess capacity in both elementary and secondary, Glover added, “and the province has been on us to close and sell schools.

“But we just can’t do it,” he added. “Our elementary enrolment is set to grow again, and we have to plan for the future. The population of Toronto is set to double in the next 25 years; selling schools is incredibly short-sighted.”

The levy is meant to be used to buy land for new schools, and not to upgrade or redo existing schools. Instead, the public board has resorted to severing parts of schoolyards to bring in funds to pay for much-needed construction.

Last May, the TDSB wrote to the provincial party leaders saying “growth in Ontario’s urban centres is modelled on vertical intensification and school boards require funding to refurbish existing schools.”

Krista Wylie, a parent representative in her ward, said she believes developer charges should be used to fund repairs and maintenance of Toronto public schools. The mother of children at Runnymede public school said buildings are run down and “the government must update the regulation that governs (the education charges) and allow the TDSB to access money from developers.”