Members of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue say the Toronto District School Board is turning its back on the community, after it kicked them out of school property they have used for 36 years.

But the trustee representing the North York school says the congregation has never paid “a cent” of rent for its exclusive use of the space — an arrangement unheard of at the board.

“It is the only organization that has had a free ride with the TDSB,” said trustee Howard Kaplan. “The school has been paying the congregation’s hydro and land use out of funds that could be used for textbooks and school supplies.”

The Shomer Israel congregation has held weekend and holiday services on the property of Rockford Public School, near Bathurst St. and Steeles Ave., since 1977. It has used a small portable outside the school since at least the mid-1990s, said president David Green.

He said the synagogue had an informal agreement with the school to use the property free of charge, which the board supported until Kaplan was elected trustee in 2010.

“It was serving a community,” said Green. “The mission of the TDSB is beyond just educating. It’s also a community service. There is and has been a large Jewish community in this neighbourhood.”

The synagogue was evicted July 31, just weeks before the Jewish High Holidays. Members are planning to observe the holidays with other congregations until they find a new space.

Kaplan said he first learned of the synagogue when he toured the school in 2011. The principal told him about the hydro cost and the fact that the portable blocks part of the playground, making it hard to keep an eye on the kids, he said.

He also learned that in 2005, a congregant slipped and fell on the ice outside the portable, prompting a lawsuit that cost the TDSB $250,000.

“It’s not just the cost. It’s the principle,” he said. “We do not provide permanent space on our land for a private organization, be they religious or whatever.”

Many organizations do rent space from the TDSB, but they must enter a formal lease agreement and pay the appropriate rate, he said.

The board arranged two meetings with the synagogue in February this year, but a TDSB staffer missed the first one and congregation members skipped out on the second, said Kaplan.

In April the board sent a lawyer’s letter giving notice to vacate by the end of May. After the synagogue also hired a lawyer, the deadline was extended until July 31.

“It’s not that we’re throwing them out on the street. They’ve had since at least February to make other arrangements,” said Kaplan.

But Green said he was never informed of a second meeting in February and that the synagogue would have welcomed a chance to share its side. As a charitable organization, it cannot afford TDSB rates, he said.

“I think that, in the end, we really needed to sit down and discuss how the synagogue serves the community, and how the Toronto District School Board and the synagogue together could make that work.”

James Pasternak, city councillor for the ward and its former school trustee, criticized the board’s handling of the situation.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I had no problem at all with this small group using this portable,” he said. “The approach after a good relationship for 30 years was heavy-handed and deeply unfortunate.”

Pasternak said the city is looking at moving the portable 60 metres west to Rockford Park, which is city property. There, it would operate as a community centre during the week while the synagogue could use it on the weekends.

“It is vital for both the TDSB and the city to be accessible and open to as many diverse groups as possible. That’s what public institutions are for.”