HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-10-29, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009.Huron East mayor Joe Seilitold Avon Maitland DistrictSchool Board (AMDSB)
superintendent of education
Mike Ash that resistance posed
by North Huron in its recent
accommodation review was “a
cakewalk” compared to the
fight Huron East will bring to
its accommodation review,
which will get officially
underway next week.
Seili says that he and his
municipality plan on putting
up a fight against a measure
that could “kill economic
development in the north” of
Huron East.
Ash and a member of the
board of trustees presented
facts and figures to Huron East
council at its Oct. 20.
With scenarios that could
result in the potential closure
of two of the municipality’s
three remaining public
schools, Huron East
councillors had many
concerns.
Ash discussed a potential
scenario where Brussels
Public School would be closed
and its students would attend
the new, larger school for
North Huron.
The planning of the new
school, however came under
scrutiny as well. While Seili
had already expressed his
displeasure at the municipality
not being invited to be a part of
an accommodation review
which indirectly involved one
of its schools, councillors were
also concerned that the school
may not be able to
accommodate the students of
five schools, as opposed to the
original four.
This led to a discussion
regarding the municipality of
Morris-Turnberry. While
many of that municipality’s
students will be affected by
potential closures and board
trustee Colleen Schenk even
gave a presentation to Morris-
Turnberry council at its Oct.
20 meeting, the municipality
will not be involved in the
process in any voting capacity.
Councillors and members of
the Brussels and Grey Central
Public School councils felt
this was unfair and asked for
the addition of representation
from Morris-Turnberry.
When Ash said he would
consider it, Blaney asked
when and where this request
could be filed and discussed.
His concern, he said, was that
the Morris-Turnberry issue
would be one that is discussed,
then forgotten with nothing
ever coming from it. Blaney
said he felt it was important
enough to be discussed at thetrustee level.While the next meeting ofthe trustees isn’t until after thefirst scheduled meeting of theARC, Ash assured council the
issue would be raised then
with a decision made in time
for the second ARC meeting.
Ash cited figures that show a
steady decline in enrollment,
approximately two per cent
annually at Grey Central
Public School,
acknowledging, however, that
figures may stabilize in 15
years or so.
Ash said that with 400
empty students spaces
throughout the six schools in
the review, making maximum
use of tax dollars would be
beneficial. He said that
powering, heating and
cleaning empty rooms is not
an effective use of tax dollars.
“We are all stewards of tax
dollars and we want to make
the best of it,” he said.
With that being said,
however, councillor David
Blaney was concerned with
transportation costs associated
with students from Brussels
Public School going
elsewhere.
He asked Ash if a short-term
capital versus long-term
transportation cost comparison
had ever been completed in
any of the board’s
accommodation review. Ash
said he didn’t know.
Blaney said this would be
helpful, with many Brussels
students walking to school,
who would now have to be
driven to school on buses.
Blaney acknowledged that
in this early stage, a proper
assessment could not be made,
but with a school in North
Huron being proposed in a
location between Belgrave and
Wingham that has yet to be
determined, transportation
could get costly.
He added that transportation
time may also be a concern.
With his children travelling to
Wingham for secondary
school on a bus, it takes them
one hour each way, he said.
Having kindergarten students
on such a bus for that length of
time is a concern, he said.
Orval Bauer, like many of
the other councillors, had a
problem with the board’s
projections. He made a
comparison to the land built
around Toronto’s Pearson
International Airport, saying
that it was all farmland 50
years ago. He then asked what
was stopping that from
happening in Huron East.
“There is nothing to stop
that from happening,” Ash
responded. “However, with
our projections that take us to2022, it doesn’t look like thatis going to happen. If that doeshappen, we can go back to theMinistry [of Education].”Bauer responded, saying
that a return trip to the
Ministry of Education would
cost taxpayers even more
money in the long run.
Economic development was
also a concern. With council
faced with a devastating blow
to the growth of its
municipality, councillor Joe
Steffler said that while the
projections say that population
may shrink in Huron East, the
closure of two out of the
municipality’s three schools
would guarantee it.
“We can’t afford to lose our
schools in rural Ontario,
otherwise, rural Ontario will
just dry up and blow away,”
Steffler said. “If you take the
school out of Brussels, there
will be no reason for a young
family to move there and it
will most certainly affect
economic development.”
Ash, however, reiterated that
while the board attempts to
help preserve the vitality of the
community, it is not the
board’s primary objective.
“Isn’t there something in the
board’s mandate stating that
the vitality of a municipality is
important?” asked councillor
Bob Fisher. “No it isn’t,”
responded Ash. “We try to
work in partnership with the
municipalities, but our
primary objective is providing
the best education to our
students.”
Councillor Bill Siemon
recounted his days in school
and said he feels the AMDSB
is working backwards insteadof forwards.“It keeps getting worse.When I went to school therewere over 40 students in oneroom and a lot of scholars
came out of that school,” he
said. “It doesn’t seem to be
about education anymore, it
just seems like we’re trying to
put eggs in a carton here, but
they’re not getting a better
education.”
Charlie Hoy, chair of the
Brussels Public School school
council had similar concerns,
saying there will be huge
economic development
implications to be considered
with the closure of two schools
in one municipality.
Hoy said that he and the
members of Grey Central
Public School’s student
council hope to present a
united front where they can
work together for their
community, not get into a
“spitting contest” which was
what councillor Alvin
McLellan said he was worried
about.
“We need a lot of
ammunition and we’re hoping
we can rely on council to help
us,” Hoy said, to which Seili
responded, “We’ll give you all
the support we can. We’ll be atthe table for both of ourschools.”After the presentation,council was asked to appoint arepresentative to the Accommodation ReviewCommittee (ARC), anddeputy-mayor BernieMacLellan was named, withMcLellan being named as thealternate.
Continued from page 4
outlined as staff’s “proposed
solution”, “Phase 2",
resulting in the addition of
222 pupil places to the
original 341, worth an
additional $3.65 million.
(document can be seen on-
line at
www.tinyurl.com/localpriorit
ies)
This application was
submitted Oct. 31, and
approved by the Ministry of
Education, resulting in the
June 9 funding
announcement.
The Hon. Ms Mitchell’s
letter to me states, “Our
government committed $8.8
million to the building of this
new school which will result
in the closure of four schools
in the area.”
But according to the
provincially-approved
application, Brussels would
be school number five.
Brussels, get ready to
muster your best arguments –
but the bureaucratic
handwriting is already on the
wall.
Ernest Dow, Blyth.
‘Handwriting on the wall’
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Huron East mayor promises AMDSB a battleBy Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
Thanks
Clinton fire chief Steve Cooke, right, presents
Const. Patrick Armstrong with a cheque from
the Huron County Mutual Fire Aid Association
in the amount of $575 to the Dave Mounsey
Foundation. The money was raised from the
sale of “support the troops” t-shirts. (Vicky Bremner
photo)