The Citizen, 2008-09-18, Page 1Calm, cool and collected
Teaghan Coultes, a student at East Wawanosh Public School was one of many students who
showed their animals at last week’s 88th annual Belgrave, Blyth and Brussels School Fair.
Coultes marched in the parade with the rest of her class, watched the opening ceremonies,
then headed for her horse so she could prepare. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Elementary schools on the
outskirts of two Huron County
communities – Exeter and Wingham
– could face closure, following the
initiation of a new round of
accommodation reviews by the Avon
Maitland District School Board.
At a regular meeting Tuesday,
Sept. 9, trustees unanimously
approved the establishment of two
Accommodation Review
Committees (ARCs) – public
consultation committees charged
with providing information for use
in a decision on changes.
In an interview after the meeting,
newly-appointed education
superintendent Mike Ash identified
June 9, 2009 as the earliest possible
date for a final vote on potential
closure.
Citing a report prepared for the
meeting, Ash told trustees that,
based on last year’s numbers, “three
of the (board’s) 44 elementary
schools . . . had loadings at or below
60 per cent. (And) using the 2008-09
opening day enrolments . . . three
more schools” have been added to
that list.
Of those six, one (Victoria in
Goderich) will be closed under the
provincial Education ministry’s
“prohibitive to repair” program and
the rest were all mentioned as
possible targets for change in the
Sept. 9 report.
In all, five school clusters were
considered: North Central Huron,
Perth East, South Huron, Central
West Huron, and the City of
Stratford.
Regarding Stratford, Ash noted
that “enrolment in the south is
declining and enrolment in the north
is increasing. We know that a
boundary review would help to take
some pressure off in certain areas.”
Romeo Public School sits below 60
per cent loading, but Ash reminded
trustees that, between 1999-2004,
the board closed five of its Stratford
elementary schools. “So . . . we want
to move down that road carefully
and with the best intentions to
provide programming for those
students.”
The Perth East cluster – including
the low-capacity North Easthope
Public School – is closely tied,
meanwhile, to the Stratford scenario,
particularly because Grades 7 and 8
students within the city are already
accommodated at the two secondary
schools.
The status quo in the Central West
Huron cluster – with Holmesville
Public School among the six Avon
Maitland facilities below 60 per cent
loading – leaves open an increased
likelihood of triple-grade classes, the
report explains. “These schools are
unsustainable with small and
declining enrolments.”
But, given equally striking
enrolment projections in the areas
surrounding Exeter and Wingham,
board staff recommended not
proceeding with too many
accommodation reviews in a single
year.
“The number of staff and the
resources required to complete such
a review are limited,” said Chuck
Reid, who recently took over the top
administrative job at the board
following the retirement of Geoff
Williams.
That leaves North Central Huron –
with a cluster of elementary schools
in East Wawanosh, Hullett,
Turnberry, Blyth and Wingham –
and Usborne Central Public School
as the two remaining
recommendations for
accommodation review.
“Over the past five years the
enrolment in Usborne has dropped
38 per cent and is projected to
decline another 6.4 per cent in
2008–09,” states the report.
Central Huron trustee Shelley
Kaastra expressed concern that no
other schools would be included in
the newly-created ARC – as had
been the case last year in
accommodation reviews in Mitchell,
Goderich and St. Marys.
Ash responded that the enrolment
decline at Usborne has been so
severe, compared to other nearby
Run raises $7,445
The story at the Brussels dam has
certainly changed in a week. Where
the still waters several days ago
were a breeding ground for
mosquitoes, heavy rains really got
the river moving.
Two systems moved through the
the county on Saturday and early
Sunday as the result of a tropical
depression. Then following a brief
lull the tail-end of Hurricane Ike
brought in more rain.
Anticipating the problem,
Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority staff were out lifting
boards on the dams in Brussels,
Gorrie and Bluevale. “This is a
precautionary measure,” said
communications co-ordinator Jayne
Thompson. “We want that water
moving more freely.”
While the rainfall was significant
throughout the watershed,
Thompson said it was also
somewhat uneven. “That seems to
be the case now. There were a lot of
differences in how much each area
received.”
Thompson said that staff
measured 119 mm in Wroxeter as of
2 p.m. Monday. Blyth had 103.8
mm and Ethel had 71 mm. A total of
113 mm was measured in the
Wingham area, 110 mm in Lakelet
and 104 mm in Benmiller.
“Yet Lucknow, a place we watch
closely had 42. It was very spotty.”
While this has raised the water
levels significantly, Thompson said
the area is not in a watch or advisory
situtation. “It is more flood safety.”
Thompson said on Monday
afternoon that they expected the
waters would remain high for the
next 36 hours.
And while it was a lot of rain, it
was far away from the worst. “This
is fairly close to the time when
Hurricane Hazel happened. Toronto
was hit then and they received 285
mm in that. So although we did see
a lot it’s not at that level which is
kind of our benchmark.”
Not even the rain could keep
Brussels and area residents from
coming out to the annual Terry Fox
Run on Sunday.
Though the event didn’t make
enough to reach the $100,000 mark
for money raised over all the years
of the Brussels Run, organizer Doug
McArter was well pleased. “I think it
went very well. We were up from
last year’s total so we are very happy
with that.”
Last year, participants brought in
$6,800. This year, though McArter
thinks the number of people was
down, between 90 and 100, they
managed to bring in $7,445.50, just
under $600 short of the goal.
With no Terry’s Team Member to
lead off the 2008 Run, McArter said
there wasn’t the large group heading
out together, but people tended to
“filter in” throughout the day.
Probably in the hopes that it might
stop raining at some point. “Even
with the bad weather, it went well. It
was at least a beautiful warm rain.”
Accommodation review looks at local schools
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008
Volume 24 No. 37SAFETY- Pg. 3Blyth gets its crossingguard COMMUNITY - Pg. 16Belgrave School Fairresults beginENVIRONMENT- Pg. 2E-Waste collection site inBrusselsPublications 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:
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
River surges as
Ike pours it on
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Continued on page 6