Fall 2011 - University of Toronto Schools

UTS Board ReportA New Home for UTSThe Board has created a Site Selection Committee to find a new home for the school.As UTS enters its secondcentury, we are pleased toreport that the school is wellpositioned to build on the foundationestablished in the past five years underthe leadership of Principal MichaeleRobertson. Michaele retired on June30th leaving a legacy of accomplishment.Our strategic plan, “Buildingthe Future”,and the establishmentof theinfrastructure tosupport an independentschoolare all in place.In February, theBoard’s PrincipalBob Lord ’58chair, UTSSearch CommitteeselectedRosemary Evansto take on the Principal position atUTS, effective July 1, 2011.Rosemary has spent the time sinceher appointment familiarizing herselfwith all elements of the UTS community.This allowed her to hit the groundrunning on her first day. Since earlyJuly, Rosemary has been working closelywith the school’s Senior LeadershipTeam to plan the next academic yearand to establish goals within the contextof the school’s strategic plan. Shehas also worked closely with the Boardto continue to fine-tune our plans forensuring that the school can flourishthroughout its second century.In April, the University of Torontoinformed us that our proposal toredevelop 371 Bloor had been turneddown. This decision was very disappointing– and also admittedly somewhatsurprising. We felt strongly thatour proposal had significant meritboth for UTS and for the university.Don Schmitt ’70 had developed a sitemaster plan that would have seen UTSoccupy only 18% of the total squarefootage, at the northwestcorner of the site.In addition, the universitywould have had thepotential for more than750,000 square feet ofnew space for offices andclassrooms – well abovethe 500,000 square feetwe had earlier understoodthey required tomeet their future needs.UTS was also preparedto cover all costs associatedwith our portion ofthe new construction.Since receivingthis news, the Boardhas moved quickly toconsider our next stepsand to take action.Two Board committeeshave been establishedand have been meeting regularly.The Board’s Affiliation Committee,charged with renegotiating our relationshipwith the university, is led byDavid Rounthwaite ’65. Membersinclude David Allan ’78, UTS parentand Treasurer Andrew Dalglish,UTS parent and Board member SusanOpler ’79, Don Schmitt ’70, and JohnTory ’72. The second committee isthe Site Selection Committee led byIn April, Uof Tinformed us thatour proposal toredevelop 371Bloor had beenturned down.This decisionwas verydisappointing.We felt stronglythat our proposalhad significantmerit both forUTS and for theuniversity.Peter Neilson ’71 and Don Schmitt’70; it includes Peter Ortved ’67, UTSparents Tong Hahn and StephenMoranis, and UTS teacher JoshFullan. Both committees have beenmeeting with me, and with our newPrincipal, to solidify next steps. Muchwork has been done, andwe are heartened by theground-swell of supportand commitment fromthe UTS community.It is also importantto note that Uof T hasintroduced the optionof a possible leaseextension on 371 Bloorbeyond the 2021 datepreviously established.An extension wouldallow us more timeto raise funds for ourfuture building needswhile continuing tofocus on immediateconcerns – such as keepingtuition down andaugmenting our BursaryFund so that we canremain a merit-basedschool in the truest sense.Our experience of the past fewmonths has reinforced our confidencethat UTS has the strong support ofits community and an exciting futureahead. We welcome your feedback andwill continue to update you on eventsas they develop. Visit the school’swebsite (www.utschools.ca) for thelatest information about the site searchand other UTS news. l R12 the root : t h e u t s a lu m n i m ag a z i n e | fa l l 2011