HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-08, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012. PAGE 11. Avon Maitland District SchoolBoard trustee Colleen Schenk,
joined by board superintendent Mike
Ash, discussed the timeline for the
closure of local public schools and
the completion of the new Maitland
River Elementary School in
Wingham with North Huron Council
on March 5.
“During the 2010-2011 school
year, due to concerns with projected
delays, staff designed a Plan ‘B’,”
she said, referring to a backup plan
for where to house students.
The plan includes moving Blyth
Public School students to Hullett
Central Public School, F.E. Madill
Secondary School and Wingham and
Turnberry Central Public Schools
depending on location and parental
decision.
Students from East Wawanosh
Public School would move to
Turnberry Central Public School or
Wingham Public School for Grades
K-6 and to F.E. Madill Secondary
School for Grades 7-8.
Students from Brussels would
move either to Grey Central Public
School (to be renamed North Woods
Elementary School) or a secondary
school that they are in the catchment
area of if they are in Grades 7-8.
The rationale behind the decision
includes both preparing for the
eventuality that the new school will
be built and prepared for the 2013
school year, but also meeting
deadlines for new programs to be
offered at the school.
“The changes are almost done at
F.E. Madill Secondary School for
Grades 7-8,” Schenk said. “It’s
important to realize the benefits of
consolidating these students into one
location.”
Schenk said that amalgamating all
the students, not just the Grade 7 and
8 classes, would begin to build a
culture where people would get to
know each other and hopefully
negate some of the cultural shock
that would come with moving all the
students mid-year. She used
Goderich’s recent school
amalgamation as an example.
“In Goderich, students who were
to go to Robertson Memorial Public
School, the new Goderich Public
School, went to Victoria Public
School before the renovations weredone,” she said. “This helped withpooling resources.”Schenk stated that TurnberryCentral Public School currently has
a triple-grade class, housing students
from three different birth-years, and
that practice may have to be repeated
if amalgamation isn’t pushed on
for.
Another concern for
amalgamation is that for 2012-2013
school year, the new school was
slated to have full-day early learning
implemented, a project that wouldn’t
be feasible with the students spread
across five schools.
Schenk advised North Huron
council that final approval and costs
were submitted on the project on
Feb. 13 and that the tenders were
finalized the next day.
The school board received
Ministry of Education (MOE)
approval in print on March 2 and
tenders were released the day of the
meeting: March 5.
Those tenders will close March 15
and be shown to the board on March
22 with the project beginning after
that.
Deputy Reeve David Riach asked
Schenk and Ash why council had not
received a development agreement
regarding the school’s site, a
document they had requested in
September.
Ash explained that they didn’t
have that answer for them.
Chief Administrative Officer Gary
Long announced that the township
has no intentions of buying the
existing buildings that house East
Wawanosh Public School or Blyth
Public School, but he was curious as
to how the school board would
relieve themselves of the buildings.
“Once we have completed the
notification and waited for responses
from bodies like local municipalities
or other government bodies and
there is no interest there, we will
begin a public auction process,” Ash
said. “That scenario probably would
not unfold until late spring or fall of
2013, however, as we first have to
confirm that we have sent out the
information with the [MOE] and
confirm that we have received no
responses.
Riach then asked why the
township would be expected to pay
for either building as it has been
local tax dollars that has maintainedthe buildings and, in Blyth, theschool was built on land donated bythe community.“Why do we have to buy them
back if we wanted them?” Riach
asked. “We’ve already paid for them,
by rights they are ours. Why do wehave to dig into our pockets topurchase those buildings?”Ash stated that it was a goodquestion but not one he can answer.
“That is the kind of question that
would have to be answered by
someone in Toronto,” he said. “Wehave to follow the regulations set outby the Education Act in Torontowhen it comes to disposingproperty.”
Riach’s response to the news was
succinct. “It sucks.”
Trustees update North Huron on school closures
Wild and windy
Windy weather caused warnings and some damage over
the weekend when trees like this one on a Hamilton Street
property in Blyth were brought down by gusts of wind that
reportedly reached up to 90 kilometres per hour. (Denny
Scott photo)
Skilled students
Nathan Armstrong, left, and Toni White, right, students at Grey Central Public School both
placed third at the Royal Canadian Legion Remembrance Day Poster contest at the zone
level. Armstrong brought home third prize for his intermediate level black and white poster and
White received third place for the intermediate colour competition. (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny ScottThe Citizen