Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – June 6, 2022 – Could the School Board Eventually Sell the Central High School Site After the City’s Proposed Land Exchange?

Welcome to the Mayor’s Monday Mailbag, an initiative Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and the Mayor’s Office launched to share weekly answers to questions from the public we’ve received through our main email inbox at mayor@burlington.ca or the Mayor’s social media platforms.At the end of the month, we’ll publish a roundup of those most pressing questions we’ve received in the weeks prior.Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – June 6, 2022QUESTION:“Could the HDSB eventually sell the Central High School site after the City's proposed land exchange? And how is the City of Burlington able to potentially purchase the Robert Bateman High School property?”ANSWER:Exchanging the City-owned lands to HDSB as part of the acquisition of Bateman H.S. helps keep Central open. Securing the lands near Burlington Central High School in HDSB ownership has been consistent with the HDSB’s long-term intention to continue operating Burlington Central High School as a school.  If HDSB makes a decision in the future to sell the Bateman site, the City of Burlington would have an opportunity to purchase those lands before they are offered on the open market for developers or others to bid.Any land that’s sold or intended to be sold by a school board must be declared surplus by the school board first. The land assets are circulated to a number of public agencies, such as other school boards, regional municipal governments, lower-tier municipal governments, who get a first change to submit a purchasing bid. No private entities can bid in this first round of circulation. This is governed by provincial government policy in an effort to keep public lands public.As per the Ontario Regulation 444/98 Disposition of Surplus Real Property and Acquisition of Real Property, municipalities have the right to acquire schools sites in advance of them being put out in the open market.Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward has stated that she is committed to working with council and staff to submit offers to purchase any surplus school property that is offered for sale. This will allow council, staff and the community to determine the best community use for these lands, as we are currently doing at the Bateman site.In October 2021, Council unanimously directed staff to communicate with Halton schools boards that “the City has an interest in considering any school sites that may become available.” Council further directed staff to report back with a strategy “for the acquisition and community use of current and potential surplus school sites.” The expanded motion and elements can be found here, as well as the link to the Oct. 19, 2021 Council meeting. This motion was in conjunction with the Burlington Lands Partnership that was set up to leverage land for jobs, affordable housing and community amenities.For more frequently-asked-questions (FAQs) around the Robert Bateman site proposals, please click the links below:

• FAQs on Robert Bateman High School Site Proposals
• City of Burlington Hosts Virtual Public Information Session & Q-and-A on Robert Bateman High School Proposals

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• Mayor’s Mailbag – May 2022 Roundup – Twin City Agreements; LaSalle Park Community Marina; & Hydro Companies Removing Vegetation
• Mayor’s Mailbag – April 2022 Roundup – Support for Ukrainian Refugees; Burlington Taking on Climate Change
• Mayor’s Mailbag – March 2022 Roundup – Private Tree Bylaw, Masks, & Accessible Parking in Older Buildings
• Mayor’s Mailbag – February 2022 Roundup – Virtual Meeting Participation, Neighbourhood Community Matching Fund, & Accommodating Growth in Halton
• Mayor’s Mailbag – January 2022 Roundup – Parks’ Upgrades, Windrows When Snow Clearing

—*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor’s Media and Digital Communications Specialist