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Newsletter DRAMATIC CHANGES IN OUR SCHOOLS
If you are a community group or non-profit organization that rents space in schools, this year you'll notice a big change in your costs. For many groups in Toronto it's a 1000% increase in permit fees. If you're participating in extra-curricular activities in school there's been a great deal of anxiety as to what activities will occur due to contract talks and ever-expanding teacher's workloads. If you're a high school teacher, you're coping with an entirely new curriculum and few textbooks and resources. If you're teaching in an elementary school, you've had one year of the new curriculum and new testing requirements. If you're a high school student, you'll need to complete a 40-hour community service placement in order to graduate. Welcome to the changes in Ontario schools. Many of our Ontario arts facilities were planned, designed and built as centennial projects around 1967. Throughout the 1970's and '80's, cultural facilities continued to expand as many communities built their first theatre, art gallery or recital hall. Some communities joined forces with schools and developed an arts facility that was shared by schools, artists and community volunteers. Theatre facilities issues around access, affordability, capital needs, rehearsal & storage space and funding are emerging as important areas to examine. The need for affordable and accessible arts facilities prevail across Ontario. If schools and existing facilities become too expensive to rent - where will our groups go? There is an urgent need to build strategies and raise awareness of cultural facility issues with our members and our elected officials. With a municipal election on November 13th, here are some issues you can review with your school board trustees and municipal council who are seeking your vote this fall. As a public institution, school boards recognize they are part of a community and their facilities are accessible to community groups and individuals. Such partnerships are found all over Ontario and it has been beneficial to thousands of groups. But what if, one day you found out that your rental rates have skyrocketed without any warning or consultation? This is the case with the Etobicoke Musical Productions. In June 2000, the Toronto District School Board altered their school permit policy and dramatically changed their fee structure. In 1999, Etobicoke Musical Productions paid about $3000 for the use of school facilities, but this year it will be $49,000 for their rental fee alone. The new permit policies of the Toronto District School Board are crippling for theatre and music groups in Toronto who actively use schools in their region. It penalizes community choirs, orchestras, dance, musical groups and arts activities that need large spaces to rehearse and perform. Everyone from guides & scouts to soccer leagues; from youth groups to parks and recreation; or arts and community bookings will face dramatic leaps in their facility rental costs at schools. These new user fees will cause huge increases in ticket prices, registration & participation fees, cash flow crises and hardship for many non-profit groups that deliver lively arts and recreation activities in an accessible way to our communities. These dramatic
situations prompted Theatre Ontario to examine other public school boards
in Ontario and to identify any common trends. Theatre Ontario has
published our findings in a detailed report and would be pleased to email
or fax you the results. More and more school boards are using the cost-recovery method in building their user fee and price structure. What you're charged in Ontario schools depends on where you live. All of the rates mentioned are for theatre or auditorium spaces in schools or cafetoriums. The report finds that half of Ontario's schools are using a flat hourly rate and the fee ranges from $15 per hour (Grand Erie District School Board - Brantford area) to $100 per hour (Keewatin-Patricia District School Board - Kenora region). Other school boards have a flat rate per usage from $50 per booking (Peel District School Board - Mississauga area) to $400 per booking (Thames Valley District School Board - London area). Others offer a special package deal with a minimum number of hours for the flat rate from $150 per booking (Near North District School Board - North Bay area) to $1200 per booking (Owen Sound auditorium includes 10 hours with technician, custodial costs, equipment & lighting). Some schools have special prices for performances and for rehearsals, while others base their rates on the number of seats in the school auditorium. Some school boards involved the general public in creating their rates while others like the Toronto District School Board implemented the plan without consultation or notice a few months before the changes took effect. In the case of the Waterloo District School Board, they actually reduced their rental fee by 50% due to a backlash of changes made in 1999 where rates were $150 per hour for the use of school auditoriums. The Toronto District School Board has made the process of renting schools the most complicated and most costly because they calculate hourly prices based on room size. The "square footage" funding model of the Ministry of Education is the basis on which Toronto's school board built their new permit policies where community groups are charged either $.0057/sq.ft/hour or $.0076/sq.ft/hour which amounts to about $63.48 to $84.64 per hour for the average auditorium. To get around this problem, some groups have elected to only rent only the stage for rehearsals and the full auditorium for performances. The greatest amount of ambiguity in most school permit policies is with the classification of "Community Theatre Groups". Certainly, there are some policies that have a distinct and clear classification system (York District School Board), but there are many school boards that use two classifications - commercial and non-profit. In the case of the two-tier classification system, most often Community Theatre Groups are considered a commercial venture (they charge admission) and are thus charged the higher rental rate. To receive a copy of the Theatre Ontario's full report on school permit policies, please contact Kay Kanbayashi at 416.408.4556 or via email at info@theatreontario.org . MEMBER PROFILE BARBARA AND TOM KOBOLAK By Andrea Emmerton During a very exciting week at the Theatre Ontario Summer Courses, I was very aware that one of my tasks would be to write a profile about "someone" who has been a long time member of Theatre Ontario and who continues to attend the courses year after year. Well, I didn't just find one subject. There were dozens of people to choose from who return year after year. I found a husband and wife team. Barbara and Tom Kobolak from the Ottawa region have been members of Theatre Ontario since 1985. Barbara Kobolak, returned for her 10th year to participate in Duncan McIntosh's Advanced Scene Study course. In the past, Barbara has taken part in acting and directing courses so this course proved to be very exciting for her. "There wasn't a lot of spare time, but being part of the process, observing, learning, and auditing the scenes that other class members were working on, was wonderful. When would I otherwise have the opportunity to play the role of Juliet? Another exciting aspect of the class was the opportunity to workshop two new plays that have not yet been published and knowing that our feedback would be given to the playwright." When asked why she keeps returning, Barbara replied, "The training is special and the quality of instruction is exceptional. So many courses are Toronto centred. The Theatre Ontario Summer Courses are accessible for members who live outside the Toronto area." Tom Kobolak has been participating in the Summer Courses for 13 years. This was the first time he registered for the Musical Theatre course with David Gale and Randy Vancourt. He told me he had a fabulous time and would take the course again in a flash. When asked why it was so special, Tom replied, "We were so active all of the time. Everyone was involved in everything. There was no downtime. The course was tailored to all of the participants and all were considered equal. We worked very hard." In answer to the inevitable question, "Why do you keep coming back?" Tom answered, "It is a unique learning opportunity and participants return for extremely personal reasons. The combined energy of everyone involved, focusing on a common bond, doesn't necessarily happen in other places. Many enduring friendships are formed. It is similar to the gathering of the Clan. Something to look forward to. As well as the hard work, it is a lot of fun." Tom also told me that attending the courses provides a great opportunity for Theatre Ontario "disciples" to return to their own groups and spread the word and share their experiences. It must be working, as E.O.D.L. was very well represented this year. Barbara and Tom are members of Nepean Little Theatre, Kanata Theatre, Lakeside Players and Ottawa Little Theatre. Tom served as an evaluator with E.O.D.L. and just completed his term as President of that organization. The Kobolaks are very special people. They attend the courses of their choice as individuals with very diverse interests. They respect and support each other in the pursuit of those interests and as Barbara told me, "When things are not going well, you always know that you have someone to share animal crackers and a drink with." We look forward to seeing you next year! RECOMMENDED READING The following plays have been selected from the Playwrights Canada Press catalogue for your interest. For more information contact Playwrights Union of Canada, 1-800-561-3318; e-mail: info@puc.ca; website: www.puc.ca Babes on
Bay Street by Lilla Csorgo Blood on
the Moon by Pierre Brault Mesa by Doug Curtis Returned
to Sender by Heidi L. Janz Sheep by Daniel R. Lillford
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