‘Biggest mistake’: Toronto parents, advocates slam decision to relocate school for young women with special needs

Concerns arise for students at a special-needs school after being given relocation notice by another school that’s under construction. Beth Macdonell reports.

Parents of students who attend a Toronto school for young women, trans and non-binary students with special needs, are worried that a decision to relocate students to a new site could be the demise of the school.

“Shock and disbelief and really disappointment,” said Jennifer Brooks, who has a daughter in Grade 10 at the school.

Heydon Park Secondary School, near Dundas Street West and Beverley Street, has existed for more than a century. Students and parents believe it’s a shining example of a school that benefits students with special needs.

However, the school will soon house students from nearby Orde Street Public School.

In a letter to parents on June 2, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) said that construction of a 60-storey building next to Orde Street Public School has led to the decision to move students to the building housing Heydon Park.

As a result, Heydon Park students will need to relocate as early as Jan. 2027 to another TDSB site, “given the number of Orde Street students,” the board wrote.

“Anger, rage, my blood pressure rose. It’s another blow to the advocacy to save this school,” said another parent, Melana Janzen, who also has a daughter in Grade 10.

Jessica Rotolo, 28, graduated in 2019. She does work on documentaries and volunteers at Hayden Park. She said she wouldn’t be the successful woman she is today if she hadn’t gone to Heydon Park.

“TDSB, you are making the biggest mistake of your life. This school helps people like me who have a disability come out of their shell,” she said.

“Why is the TDSB doing this? I don’t know. They are bullying our special needs children,” said her mother, Dorlean Rotolo.

Over the past year, families have been rallying to protect Heydon Park after it was announced that Grade 9 enrolment would be cancelled.

Parents told CTV News Toronto on Thursday that the latest decision by the board to move Heydon Park shows a lack of transparency and consultation.

There’s also a fear that once Heydon Park students relocate, the school will be phased out altogether, sending students into regular high schools.

“Any other environment, my fear is for her safety. She elopes; she has behaviour concerns. We tried it. She was in a school for 1000 plus students, and at one point, she was missing,” said parent Maja Rehou.

The TDSB told CTV News Toronto that moving students from Orde Street to Heydon Park makes the most sense because there is room for all 400 students to stay together, and Heydon Park students will also stay together at its new site, adding that Heydon Park doesn’t have a geographical boundary, and its students come from across the city.

“It makes me really sad, actually. These kids are my peers, and they need this school,” said Jessica Rotolo.

The TDSB said it has scheduled parent-teacher meetings to answer questions and receive feedback from the community.