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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2004. PAGE 21.
AMDSB dreams of brand new
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Rumblings of a new education
ministry strategy for distributing
capital funds have members of the
Avon Maitland District School
Board dreaming of the day when,
even thOugh they may still be forced
to reduce the number of schools in
the district, they could relocate
students into brand new facilities.
"I went through an
accommodation review, and . . . it is
very hard on communities," recalled
trustee Shelley Kaastra, during a
meeting Tuesday, Oct. 12. But the.
Morning Star Rebekah Lodge met
on Tuesday, Oct. 12 with Noble
Grand Sister Elva Brown presiding.
Members' thoughts are with Sister
Mary Davidson and Helen Bray. It is
hoped they can attend again soon.
Plans were finalized for the
casserole card party on Monday,
Oct. 18.
Happy Birthday was sung to
Sister Laura Barbour.
Continued from page 2
Wednesday, Nov. 10.
The WI is sponsoring a casserole
supper followed by euchre in the
Brussels Library on Nov. 4 at 6:30
p.m. Plans were made for it.
Jean Fraser mentioned that she
received a life membership to the
Huron Historical Society.
The WI is also responsible for the
birthday party at Huronlea in
December.
Edna McLellan introduced Jim
Central Huron representative, one of
the main forces behind a community
group which convinced the board to
reverse its decision to close
Holmesville elementary school in
2002, added things might have been
different if parents hadn't realized
their children would be transferred
into an existing school, with its own
maintenance and renovation
challenges.
Transferring to a brand new
facility, on the other hand, would be
"an easier pill to swallow," Kaastra
commented.
The discussion arose following a
report from Avon Maitland staff,
The Humanitarian Committee of
Rebekah and 100F Lodge have
equipment to loan. There are
wheelchairs, stationary walkers,
walkers with wheels, commodes and
a hi-rise for toilet seat.
These are available by contacting
887-9303 or 887-9340 or any lodge
member can direct you.
This is one service supplied by the
Lodges.
Armstrong, speaker for the meeting.
Jim farmed for 13 years after which
he taught high school in Mitchell for
30 years. His hobby now is airplanes
which he builds himself. He also has
a couple of gliders.
Aviation is a big industry in
Canada. The diamond airplane is
built in London.
The fabric to cover the wings is
quite expensive. They are covered
with fabric glued on three times,
each time at a different temperature.
informing trustees that
recommendations will be brought
forward in late October regarding
the board's annual accommodation
review process. According to that
report, no schools will be
recommended for closure by the fall
of 2005, with the only major
proposed change being the
relocation of students from
Stratford's aging Avon elementary
school to the recently-vacated (due
to the placement of the city's Grades
7 and 8 students into secondary
schools) but much newer King Lear
facility.
That doesn't rule out the
possibility of more drastic
recommendations coming forward in
the winter or spring of 2005,
however, for possible
implementation in the fall of 2006.
Education director Geoff Williams
told trustees the intervening months
may allow for the clarification of
several "uncertainties" — including
the amount of money being provided
under some recently-announced
provincial funding initiatives, the
exact format of the government's
new rural education funding
strategy, and the details of the
education ministry's overhaul of its
accommodation review guidelines.
Regardless of the outcome of
those issues, said business
superintendent Janet Baird-Jackson,
"the conclusions (of this year's
accommodation review) remain the
same as the conclusions we've had
'for some time about the district:
declining enrolments will remain our
chief challenge.
"We're challenged fiscally. with
trying to maintain the structural
integrity of schools and upgrade
programs," she said, adding the
maintenance and enhancement of
rural schools generally poses the
biggest challenge because they tend
to be both smaller and more affected
Our
mistake
Information regarding a
photograph published two weeks
ago in The Citizen, contained an
error. .
Participants in the Weekend to
End Breast Cancer, held in Toronto,
raised $14,700,000, which will be
invested in programs to better
understand, treat and beat breast
cancer.
The Citizen apologizes for the
error.
by enrolment declines than their
urban counterparts.
"It's a juggling act," Baird-
Jackson said. In a later interview, she
added, "so far, our facilities folks
have done a really good job of
maintaining the integrity of our
buildings. But it gets increasingly
difficult every year."
The government's new
accommodation review (which, in
its most drastic form, translates into
school closure) guidelines are
expected some time in November.
According to Baird-Jackson, there
have been rumours that, along with
that announcement, the education
ministry will also announce a new
strategy for distributing capital funds
aimed at either upgrading or
replacing aging facilities.
That could be good news for the
Avon Maitland board which,
according to the report
recommending the Avon/King Lear
scenario, "is at a critical stage in the
lifecycle of its school buildings."
With an average age of about 42
years among its schools, "with many
considerably older . . . upkeep and
renewal costs can be expected to
increase dramatically."
It's also a suggestion both Kaastra
and vice chair Randy Wagler were
eager to hear more about. Wagler,
who represents a district in which
science teachers at South Huron
District High School waited seven
years between the identification of
the need to upgrade laboratories and
the time those upgrades were
recently completed, wondered if
such a strategy might allow the
board to "close deteriorating schools
so new ones can be built."
A short distance along Hwy. 8
from the board's Seaforth offices,
that's exactly what happened for the
Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board, based in Dublin. That
board is currently tapping into an
existing education ministry program
dubbed "prohibitive to repair" to
close and reconstruct aging
elementary schoOls in Clinton and
the Listowel area.
According to architectural
assessments under the previous
Conservative government's
program, St. Joseph (Clinton) and St.
Marys (Hesson) elementary schools
were deemed to be in such poor
shape that it would cost more to
repair them than it would to replace
them. So construction of two new
schools has begun.
Meanwhile, the Av9n Maitland
board was forced into extensive
upgrades at such not-quite-so-old
secondary schools as St. Marys
DCVI and F.E. Madill in Wingham,
to meet contemporary fire code
regulations. Avon school will require
upgrades of similar proportions, if it
remains . open. Yet, according to
Baird-Jackson, "they're really not
close to triggering prohibitive to
repair funding."
In short, the business
superintendent said following the
Oct. 12 meeting, "it would be really
nice for the government to come out
with a strategy to renew old
buildings."
And, if Kaastra is correct, such a
strategy might also make it a lot
easier for school boards to convince
the rural and small-town public
about the merits of closing schools
in this era of declining enrolment.
*"2 •
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Last week, Grade 4 students of East Wawanosh Public
School took part in an imaginative drama workshop, based
on the medieval legend Beuwolf. Gail Fricker, a well-known
storyteller who has toured schools for many years with the
support of the Foundation for Enriching Education, is taking
her Beuwolf workshop to over 30 Avon Maitland classes this
fall. (Bonnie Gropp photo)
Lodge finalizes plans
for casserole card party
WI sponsors supper
•