HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-12-03, Page 1Merry Christmas
Despite the rainy conditions Santa Claus rode through Brussels on Saturday night with Mrs.
Claus by his side, making his anticipated appearance at the Santa Claus parade. After, he
and Mrs. Claus spent time at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre visiting with
children and finding out what they want for Christmas. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Elma Public School held its
Accommodation Review Committee
meeting last Monday, Nov. 23 with
many parents expressing frustration
at being stuck in the middle.
The gym at Elma was filled with
residents concerned over how the
current ARC negotiations would
affect the school, offering their
suggestions and feelings.
ARC representative Bev Nichol
opened the discussion, stating that
she has a stake in the school as she
has had five kids go through Elma,
and 13 grandchildren who
potentially could go through Elma.
As a member of the committee,
Nichol said there hasn’t been enough
information given.
“I’ve been very frustrated and
disappointed that we’re not given all
of the ARC material that we need to
make a decision,” she said.
Nichol said that if the preferred
options from the Avon-Maitland
District School Board of closing
Brussels and Grey schools are
followed, over 500 children will be
affected.
“Our leaders may have to make
the hard decisions, but it is you and I
who will have to live with the
outcome,” she said.
Opening the floor to questions,
many stated that they are not in
favour of having children from a
rural school in Elma moved to a
school in Listowel. Kim Hutchings-
Hahn said that she moved from
Listowel to Trowbridge with the
intent of her kids attending a rural
school, not a town school.
Hutchings-Hahn said it puts kids in
danger of being rejected by a
different community.
“I think we’re putting our children
at risk of being picked on and
putting them under stress that they
don’t need,” she said.
Rather than have students directed
from Elma to Listowel, parents said
they would prefer if they attended
Wallace Public School instead. Elma
school council chair Nancy
Rothwell questioned if more kids are
sent to Wallace, how much room
would be available until Wallace
would be subject to another
accommodation review in a couple
years.
“How many times do you want to
move your child to a new school?”
Rothwell asked.
Bernice Weber-Passchier, an
alternative on the Wallace ARC
committee, said Wallace has the
most potential for kids to be moved,
as well as the lowest enrollment in
the schools being reviewed. Wallace
is currently at 66 per cent capacity,
with Grey and Eastdale at 74 and 72
per cent respectively. Listowel
Central follows with 81 per cent
capacity, Elma at 81 per cent and
Brussels tops the list at 98 per
cent.
Susan Alexander, a representative
of Grey Public School, wondered
how the school fits into the picture
with Elma. Just as rural as Wallace
and the same distance, Alexander
said Grey had room for 70 kids and
has recently been given a large
investment.
“Three years ago there was about
$3 million put into our school,” she
said. “Why we would turn around
and close the school, I can’t
understand.”
Janny Elg made a comment on the
rising costs of gas needed for
transportation if more bus routes are
added, saying she’d rather see it put
into schools to keep them open.
“It does not make any sense to me
at all, infrastructure lasts and gas
doesn’t,” she said.
On the topic of Elma’s expansion,
Jackie McCourt said that the new
sewer system has been halting any
progress, but with an end in sight it
allows more room to grow.
“There’s a lot of land that’s going
to come into play in the next few
years,” she said.
Referring back to a comment
made at the start of the meeting,
Natalie Cook-Nichol said she was
stunned that the ARC committee
doesn’t have all the info needed to
make a decision and is asked to
determine the future of their
children.
“No offense to the ARC
committee, but you don’t know
anything,” she said. “Who of us
would buy a house without knowing
all of the information, and these are
our kids.”
Cook-Nichol called for a
moratorium on any decision until the
ARC was supplied with more
information.
Getting 20 people to agree on
something isn’t always easy. But
when it came to Huron East
councillor Joe Seili’s motion about
the accommodation review process
county councillors were
wholeheartedly behind him.
At the meeting, Nov. 25, Seili
made a motion asking the Avon
Maitland District School Board to
stop the current accommodation
review process in Huron and Perth
Counties until a review of the
funding formula in 2010.
“The last time funding formula
was reviewed was 1997,” he said.
The motion, said Seili, was from a
2009 People for Education report.
Seili explained that of the eight
schools slated for closure between
2008 and 2012, seven are in Huron.
If this continues, he added, “there
would be no Maitland school board
left.”
He also faulted a process that “pits
community against community.”
Bluewater councillor Bill Dowson
said he had tried to keep an open
mind. “I’m not opposed to changing
things around if that’s for the best.
But the feeling I’m getting at the
(accommodation review committee)
meetings is that we are not getting
all the answers.”
Huron East councillor Bernie
MacLellan agreed. The municipal
representative on the Huron
East/North Perth ARC said, “The
board has even acknowledged the
report that was given to the trustees
is incorrect. There are improvements
that have been done that are still
showing as work they have to do.”
He explained that the board is
hoping to have a new report to
present in January. “Which makes
no sense when we have to make a
recommendation in January.”
Goderich councillor Deb Shewfelt
wondered if this motion would
overlap with a previous motion
supporting a smart moratorium on
school closures.
However, North Huron reeve Neil
Vincent felt the motions addressed
different things. “The first was in
support of the Community Schools
Alliance which is provincial. We are
dealing with something we want
done in Huron.”
Seili questioned why elementary
schools were being used to fill
secondary schools. “Let’s look at
our neighbours in Lambeth where
they are returning Grades 7and 8s to
the elementary schools. Why do we
keep funding secondary schools
when most of the empty spaces are
there.”
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009
Volume 25 No. 47COMMUNITY- Pg. 10Santa Claus paradehighlights SPECIAL - Pg. 15Christmas carol sheetsbeginCHARITY- Pg. 710-year-old finds a way topay it forwardPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
County wants board
to stop ARC process
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
The Council of the Twp. of North Huron wishes
to announce the appointment of Gary Long as the
new chief administrative officer/clerk.
Long is graduate of the University of Western
Ontario and University of Windsor and holds a
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree and Master of
Arts Degree in political science.
He has 13 years of experience in federal and
provincial governments. He was the senior
advisor/executive assistant for MP Gary
Schellenberger from 2003-2009 and Bert Johnson,
MPP from 2000-2003.
He has also held assistant positions with the
Hon. David Turnbull, Minister of Transportation,
Doug Galt MPP and Assistant to the Minister of
the Environment and John Hastings, MPP.
Long commenced his employment with North
Huron on Nov. 30.
Long was born in Wiarton and raised in Cobourg
and now resides with his wife Lianne and daughter
in Stratford.
GARY LONG
Duties commenced
Nov. 30
Elma wonders how it fits in accommodation review
By Andrew Smith
Listowel Banner
Stratford resident
new N. Huron CAO