Heydon Park students face forced relocation amid LRT fallout
Parents of special-needs students protest sudden upheaval with no clarity on where school will move.
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Heydon Park Secondary School, Toronto's only small public high school for young women, transgender, and non-binary students, is being forced out of its century-old home on Dundas and Beverley to make room for Orde Street Public School.
The move comes because construction of a 60-storey tower at 149 College St. next to Orde Street's playground will create excessive noise, vibration, air quality issues, and falling-object risks — conditions the school board deemed unsafe for elementary students. Orde Street will move to Heydon Park this September; Heydon Park itself could be displaced as early as January 2027.
Parents received notice via email from superintendent Jennifer Chan on Tuesday. They say they haven't been consulted and have no idea where their kids will be relocated.
"We need the stability. We need the security," said Paulet Slyfield-Bannister, school council co-chair and parent of a student. "If they're going to be someplace else, we need to know where it is. We need to have a voice."
Many Heydon Park students dealt with trauma in mainstream schools. The school is a safe refuge for them. Jennifer Brooks, parent of a Grade 10 student, said the news was shocking. "It's not just a school to our kids. It's a lifeline and it's life-changing for them," she said.
Parent Melana Janzen noted the school's exceptional one-to-six student-to-teacher ratio. "This should be replicated. It shouldn't be closed," she said. The board has not decided Heydon Park's long-term future, and has already stopped accepting Grade 9 admissions due to low enrolment.