Malvern students launch petition for new elevator to make school accessible

If you agree that Malvern needs an elevator, please go to the link below and support the petition to make Malvern and accessible school.

Our names are Emma Fletcher and Jazz Rusnak, and we are high school students at Malvern Collegiate Institute. We are emailing because our principal referred us to you because you may be able to help us in our initiative to get an elevator in our school. Here are the details.

As you know, Malvern Collegiate Institute is not accessible to students with physical disabilities or users of mobility devices because it is three storeys and offers no ramps, stair lifts, or elevators. There are eight entrances to the building, and all of them have stairs except for one entrance that is sloped.

We are passionate about this project because it gives access to many teachers, guest speakers, parents, and other visitors to the school who have certain disabilities and are presently unable to enter the school and participate in school events either easily or at all. This also means that future students with disabilities will no longer be automatically deferred from our school because it cannot accommodate them.

We would like to work in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act to help enhance accessibility. With respect to this Act, we are seeking to implement an elevator in our school to make the facility more accessible to people with physical disabilities or users of mobility devices. We recognize that Malvern is a good school and that we are privileged to receive such quality education and be given so many learning opportunities. Our wish is that all students in the TDSB may have equal access to these opportunities too, and should not be inhibited by inaccessibility.

We have created a petition to help raise community awareness about the issue and further its sphere of influence. Here is the link: https://www.change.org/p/make-malvern-accessible

We were wondering if you have any suggestions for how to go about furthering our initiative, or if you are able to send our petition to other alumni. We would be grateful for any guidance you have, and look forward to hearing back from you.

Thank you for your time,

Emma Fletcher and Jazz Rusnak