HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-11-15, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY,NOVEMBER 15, 2007.A c c o r ding to Avon MaitlandDistrict School Board policy,thefi r st responsibility of thre e“A c c o m m o d ation Rev i e w
Committees”(ARCs) is to assess
the value to the community of
existing schools in Mitch e l l ,
Goderich and St. Marys.
But at last we e k ’s joint A R C
meeting – meant to intro d u c e
committee members to their tasks,
b e f o r e they begin their sep a r at e
meeting schedules this week – it
became clear many ARC members
intend on looking towa rds the
schools of the future.
“If all the schools in Mitch e l l
were to burn down today,and the
school board was to start again from
scratch,how would the schools look
d i ffe r ent from wh a t we have
t o d a y ? ”a s k ed Dean Smith,
representative on the Mitchell ARC
for the Mitchell Public Sch o o l
c o u n c i l ,at the meeting Tu e s d a y,
N ov. 6 at the board ’s Seafo r t h
headquarters.
The ARC meetings represent step
two in an accommodation review
p r ocess wh i ch could see a
consolidation from two elementary
schools down to just one in any or
all of the three communities. The
c o m m unities we r e identified fo r
review in a preliminary analysis,
presented by Avon Maitland staff to
the board on Sept. 11,and trustees
then voted to form the ARCs.
E a ch ARC must now host a
minimum of four public meetings,
stretching over a minimum of 90
days. The first of those meetings is
already scheduled for 7 p.m. in the
high schools in each tow n :
Wednesday,Nov. 14 in Mitchell and
Thursday,Nov. 15 in Goderich and
St. Marys.
Voting members of each A R C
i n c lude rep r e s e n t a t ives fro m
a ffected school councils,
c o m m unity members chosen by
each school council,and a member
appointed by the affected municipal
government. At the Nov. 6 meeting,
o p e r ations superintendent Te d
D o h e r ty rep e a t e d ly drew
participants to the first ARC task
outlined in board policy:the School
Valuation Framework.
“In terms of the work the ARCs
are going to do . . . these packages
need to be completed for eve ry
school,”he said.
The frameworks were mandated
by the provincial Educat i o n
M i n i s t r y when it ove r h a u l e d
Ontario’s school closure guidelines.
They include some factors which
can be easily identified by the board
itself,such as the projected upkeep
c o s t s ,i n ve n t o ries of progra m s ,
s e r vices and staff,and of the
physical attributes of the property.
But they also include less concrete
fa c t o r s ,l i k e the existence of
partnerships with other community
s t a k e h o l d e r s ,the re l a tionship of
students and staff with townspeople,
f u n d r aising activ i t i e s ,and eve n t s
held outside classroom hours.
“There may be things we don’t
k n ow about the commu n i t i e s
because we don’t necessarily live in
t h e m ,”e d u c a tion director Geoff
Williams said in an interview after
the meeting.
In this rega r d,a c c o m m o d at i o n
and facilities administrator Phil
McCotter definitely drew the most
at t e n t i o n ,among the board ’s
p r e s e n t e r s. He fielded questions
about how the capacity rating for
classrooms is determined,how it’s
decided whether or not a board is
e l i g i ble for “ n ew pupil places”
funding,how a school’s projected
1 0 - yea r and 25-year maintenance
costs are determ i n e d ,and thevalidity of enrolment projections.But on more than one occasion,D o h e rty found himself adv i s i n gARC members to step back fromdreaming about future facilities,andb egin by assessing the ex i s t i n g
schools.
Jose Gillespie,s c hool council
rep r e s e n t a t ive for Robert s t o n
M e m o r ial Public School in
G o d e ri c h ,u rged board staff to
i n f o r m the ARCs wh a t possibl e
solutions they’ve come up with and
the budgets involved,to ensure the
committees don’t spend time talking
about ideas that will never happen.
Citing her involvement the last time
the board proposed school closures,
she argued such discussions led to
u n n e c e s s a r y disputes about the
merits of each facility.
Doherty,a former Goderich high
s c hool pri n c i p a l ,responded that
those options will eve n t u a l ly be
brought forward,but not necessarily
right now.
“Sure,there are scenarios we’ve
t a l ked ab o u t ,just like there are
p ro b abl y scenarios yo u ’ve talke d
about. But we’re hesitant to do that
too early,because we don’t want to
squash the kind of discussion we’ve
already heard tonight.”
Interviewed after the meeting,St.
Marys town council representative
Don Van Galen picked up on the
theme,saying trustees and boardstaff“already have us put in theirlittle boxes. We’ll do what we’resupposed to do and present ourreports,but they’ve already decidedwhat they’re going to do.”Williams confi r med the fi n a l
decisions – which he predicts would
come on the board’s last meeting in
June,2008,for implementation in
S e p t e m b e r ,2009 – do rest with
trustees,and it’s entirely possible
trustees will not vote entirely in
a c c o r dance with A R C
recommendations.
But he added – and this wa s
re i t e rated by board chair Je n ny
Versteeg when she spoke to ARC
members – that this particular group
of trustees has,on more than one
o c c a s i o n ,also voted against the
recommendations of board staff.
And the education dire c t o r ’s
candid opening add r ess to A R C
members spoke directly to the type
of charge leveled by Van Galen. He
cautioned meeting participants that
“rumours”and “accusations”will
be made public about the
accommodation review process.
“We know from the last round (of
Avon Maitland accommodat i o n
reviews in 2000 and 2003),and even
f rom naming these thre e
communities this year,that there’s a
fa i rly high level of anxiety ove r
these issues,”Williams told
reporters. “And I was just warning(ARC participants) about some ofthe things we might see – things thatI think are inevitable.”R e p e a t e d l y,h oweve r,b o a r dofficials pledged this time thingswill be diffe r ent. The rev i ew
process,altered in response to the
overhaul of provincial guidelines,is
ve r y specific about publ i c
c o n s u l t a t i o n ,t i m e l i n e s ,and the
responsibilities of each group of
participants.
“There was a sense the last time
that the board was doing things to
the communities in wh i ch the
communities had no say,”suggested
Williams. “This time around,I don’t
believe it will be that way to the
same extent.”
And several meeting participants
backed up the education director’s
belief.
“I think we’re all a lot wiser this
time around,”commented Gillespie
in an interview.“I think the board
has learned a lot and I think we’re
all better prepared . . . The majority
of the people I’ve spoken to,in my
opinion,are okay with the fact that
change is going to have to happen.”
St. Marys DCVI school council
rep r e s e n t a t i ve Frances Lat h a m ,
m e a n w h i l e,called the pro c e s s
“really exciting.We have a g reato p p o rtunity to do something ofimportance for the community.”And her fellow ARC member PatWeir,representing Arthur Meighenschool council,added,“this feelsl i ke a diffe r ent process (than
previous accommodation reviews).
The public consultation is built into
it in a different way. It feels like a
more transparent process.”
For info r m ation about the
accommodation reviews,visit the
b o a rd ’s website at
h t t p : / / w w w . yo u r s c hools.ca Th o s e
wishing to make a presentation at
the local ARC meetings can contact
the committees at the same location.
All ARC meetings are publ i c.
Non-voting ARC members include
the principals from each school and
the area’s trustee.
Voting members are as follows:
G o d e ri ch :Jose Gillespie,L i z
Brown,Kim Payne,Judy Crawford,
Karen Goulet,Linda Mabon,Deb
S h ew felt. Mitch e l l :Dean Smith,
Je n n i fer Sch r o e d e r ,Ken Clar k ,
M i c helle Chessell,D a r re n
Bulbrook,Bonnie Heimers,Mike
Ta m ,B e rt J. Vo r s t e n b o s ch. St.
M a r y s :Pat We i r ,Ju dy Haye s ,
Frances Latham,Chris West,Marg
McBride,Don Van Galen.
Concerns about lead in drinking
water are being add ressed by
Ontario’s Action Plan.
On Nov. 5 at their meeting,Huron
County councillors were told of a
component of the plan that will see
financial assistance provided to
some low-income households to
obtain water filters that will remove
lead content from drinking water.
Those eligible for the water filter
fund,implemented Nov. 1 are those
with a households in wh i c h a
pregnant woman or children up to
the age of six re s i d e . The net
household income can be no greater
than $20,000.
The fund will be administere d
through the county’s social services
department.
H u r on East councillor Bern i e
MacLellan was a little concerned,
h o weve r ,t h a t the cure might be
worse than the disease.“What kind
of filter is being used? If it’s going
back to the landfill then it will be
back in the water anyway.”
A g reeing that this might be
a c c u r at e ,social serv i c e s
administrator Dave Overboe said he
would contact the Ministry of the
Environment to get an answ er to
MacLellan’s question.
Meeting shows ARC looking towards the future
New provincial plan
takes action on lead
in drinking water
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