Storefront School to stay put for now

A co-op program for young adults with intellectual disabilities will remain at its current home near St. Laurent Shopping Centre next year, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has announced.

The Storefront School, which has been operating in an office building next to the mall, was at risk of shutting down after the landlord, Morguard Properties, began charging rent.

Morguard had been providing the space rent-free, but began charging the school board $3,000 a month in September 2016.

That decision triggered a review of the program by the board, which planned to move Storefront students to Ottawa Technical Secondary School and later absorb them back into the board's general learning program for students with intellectual disabilities.

The two-year Storefront program, which has operated since 1987, typically accepts just 12 students at a time, who spend their mornings at work placements and their afternoons in class learning life skills.

In a memo to trustees, the board's director of education, Jennifer Adams, wrote the program will remain near St. Laurent mall for the 2018-19 year as discussions continue with Morguard about "reducing or eliminating rent for the coming school year." 

Board staff are working with Storefront to finalize applications this spring for students entering the program in September, the memo reads.