The Rural Voice, 1998-11, Page 20So far the debate hasn't hit home in Grey and Bruce
Counties, but it's still early in the game there.
Superintendent of Business Bill Mann said the board has
only recently received the information necessary to discuss
the excess space issue. It was discussed in committee of the
whole, October 20. Prior to the session, he said there were
no proposals for school closures in the district.
Contrary to provincial policies, Guelph trustee and
Accommodation Committee chair for the Upper
Grand District School Board (UGDSB) Peter
Brimblecombe "does not buy the efficiency of a full school
of 500 over a full school of 125. It is just that a smaller
school may have to share the services of a principal or
other staff."
While the AMDSB has listed 17 schools for closure or
conversion, the UGDSB in Wellington and Dufferin
Counties, has slated eight for closure though their
perspective is quite different.
Having a greater mix of urban and rural schools,
Brimblecombe said the closure of eight small schools and
re -alignment of others, allows the board
to look at the construction of several new
larger schools to accommodate the
amalgamation of facilities.
Though eight schools, seven of which
are rural, are on the list Brimblecombe
said the board has looked at the resulting
impact on 36.
All the schools affected are in Wellington
County since Dufferin already had larger
schools in their system. Wellington is
coping with many small buildings.
In many cases, a larger school which
may now house kindergarten to Grade 6
is gaining additions for conversion to
kindergarten to Grade 8, thereby
eliminating the Grade 7 and 8 building.
The one aspect of this method that "scares"
Brimblecombe is the possibility that classes could be held
in portables for years, while the schools wait for
construction after closing other buildings.
While many communities in Wellington now have two
buildings which will eventually be amalgamated,
Brimblecombe sees the biggest fight coming with the
closure of the high school in Arthur and the bussing of the
students to Mount Forest.
As a small school, which will soon lose the OAC
students, he said Arthur is now mostly an academic school
with students who are interested in other courses going to
Norwell or Fergus.
"We can have a bigger, better school at one location."
Brimblecombe said people in his district have had to
deal with closures recently as two buildings have been shut
down because of the condition. The parents and children
were very upset at first, he said, but they seem to be
settling in this year. "I have heard no bad reports."
The best utilization of space and money is further
complicated by the government increasingly "envelop-
ing" money, designating it to only one use, said AMDSB's
Marklevitz.
"We can choose to keep the buildings open, but have to
take the money from somewhere else. When we are already
Helen
Johns:
Boards
need to
get
creative
to keep
schools
open
squeezed where do we get it from. Should we spcnd the
money on buildings or children?" said Marklevitz.
Helen Johns has suggested cuts to administration as an
alternative to school closings but Armstrong says those
have already been considered. "Our administration was
approved by the provincial education committee, said
AMDSB Chair Armstrong. "We are doing what we were
told."
The board continues to fight for equity in funding and,
as the lowest spending public board, would like to receive
more funds.
In support of developing a funding formula geared to
rural settings, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
released a statement recently, requesting the government
put a moratorium on school closures until a rural education
strategy could be completed.
"We are asking for a moratorium to be put on closures
until a rural education strategy to meet the needs of rural
children can be completed" said OFA President Ed
Segsworth. OFA will lobby the government to look at the
education formula and how it pertains to
rural children.
"The formula may serve urban children,
but not rural children. The transfer of
children from rural schools, bussed to
urban schools, is not in their best
interest," he said.
OFA is currently attempting to set up a
meeting with government representatives
to discuss the formula and get them to
back off the December deadline for
submitting closure lists.
In accepting the fact of excess space in
some facilities, Huron Federation of
Agriculture's outgoing president Henry
Boot suggests boards should look at other
for the excess space such as for auult
16 THE RURAL VOICE
ways to pay
education.
Boards should look at an increased use of
teleconferencing for classes, thereby allowing smaller
schools to offer a greater range of courses while keeping
staffing costs down.
Telling of a family case, Boot said a class which did not
have a professional in the room. Students relied solely on
the teleconferenced material and each other and fared
better in final results. "It forced the students to work
together and pay attention. We have the technology, we
should use it. There will be no more bricks and mortar.
This is rural Ontario."
While the school boards and government look at
square footage and finances, parents and
communities are considering the broader issues.
The closure of their schools means the loss of a
community, a connecting link that holds them together.
Colborne Public School near Goderich, which currently
houses 103 per cent of its student capacity, could be closed
and students bussed to a different school, says school
council chair Bonnie LaFontaine. Parents and children are
upset.
"The children are worried and parents are in tears. For
some children, it is critical they are not moved or
displaced," said LaFontaine.