HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-03-03, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2005.
St. Joseph’s school gets one-year reprieve
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Catholic parents in the rural area
north of Goderich earned a one-year
reprieve from closure for St. Joseph's
elementary school in Kingsbridge,
and were given the chance for long
term stability if the school's current
enrolment level can be main
tained.
Al a regular meeting Monday. Feb.
28. trustees of the Huron-Perth
Catholic District School Board
approved a recommendation to
welcome students back next
September, then revisit enrolment
projections next January to decide if
the school can still attract today's
level of 54.5 full-time equivalent
(FTE) students. If that number looks
oui of reach, only then would a
recommendation that “Kingsbridge
be closed effective September. 2006"
come into effect.
The recommendations, brought
forward from board staff, were
originally drafted by a five-member
Accommodation Review Advisory
Committee. That committee was
formed late last year in accordance
with the board's school closure
policy, hosted a public meeting in
Kingsbridge on Jan. 18. and
delivered a report to the board at the
Feb. 28 meeting.
“I'd like to thank the board, not
only for keeping the school open for
2005. but also for leaving the door
open for 2006 if enough students can
be found.” said Jennifer Miltenburg.
parent of two children at St. Joseph’s
Kingsbridge and one of three
community members on the Advisory
Committee.
Other committee members were
board chair Bernard Murray and
Northwest Huron trustee Mary-
Catherine McKeon.
Following the vote. Miltenburg
said in an interview that “it was a
huge thing for (the board), not only to
leave the school open but also at that
small number” of students. She noted
previous presentations by board
officials suggested that, ideally, the
smallest schools should have at least
70 FTE students to avoid the
challenges in providing high-quality
instruction in split-grade classrooms.
With this decision, she said, the board
sent a message about providing
Catholic education in rural areas, and
expressed its commitment to
maintain quality education in a
school with 54.5 FTE.
“The board has recognized the
remoteness of St. Joseph’s
Kingsbridge.” she told trustees,
noting later that the nearest Catholic
elementary school to the facility is 25
km away — and even further from
HPCDSB accepts tender
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The successful tender quote,
approved Monday, Feb. 28 at a
regular board meeting, was below
the Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board’s projected cost for an
addition and renovations at
Goderich's St. Marys elementary
school.
Guelph-based Devlan
Construction Ltd. was awarded the
contract to construct further
teaching space at the school, as well
as carry out some indoor and
exterior alterations. The company
submitted the low bid of $ 1,664,451.
In October, board officials had
the northwest corner of the
Kingsbridge catchment area.
“I think that’s a huge step for
Catholic education."
Murray described the decision as
an agreement to allow parents and
friends to mount a campaign to
attract more students to the school.
“The members of the community
asked, ‘can we not be given the
chance to increase the numbers’,” the
board chair explained.
And Miltenburg assured trustees
she has already received word of
interested families, who had resisted
enrolling at St. Joseph's due to
uncertainty about whether or not the
school would remain open.
She admitted, however, that it
would not be easy. Indeed, with this
year's unusually large Grade 7 class
of 14 students scheduled to graduate
in June, 2006, the board's own
current projections suggest the school
will have only 40.5 FTE students the
predicted a cost of up to $2.1
million. And, at a later public
meeting about the potential closure
of St. Joseph’s school in
Kingsbridge, the figure of $1.8
million was suggested.
Following the approval of the
tender, board chair Bernard Murray
said he’s encouraged by the fact the
bid fell below' the board’s budget
projections.
And he also echoed a statement
made in a report from the board’s
architect: that the low three bids —
out of a total of six — were quite
close together, suggesting prices
may be relatively low right now due
to strong competition in the
construction market.
following September.
Education director Larry Langan,
also in an interview, said the board's
commitment to assisting parents in
their search for new students does not
translate into an admission that not
enough was done in the past. He said.
“I’m entering this, with the
Kingsbridge community, from an
optimistic point of view.”
But he added, “I guess it comes
down to how many students there are
out there . . . and our data tells us that
we're already attracting the majority
of students in that area.”
Other requests, accepted alongside
the one-year reprieve, will be granted
only if the goal of 54.5 FTE students
is not achieved in time. These
include: “mak(ing) every effort to
honour the requests of parents for
their children to attend any of the
neighbouring three Catholic schools”
(St. Marys in Goderich; Sacred Heart
in Wingham; or St. Joseph’s in
Clinton); “ensuring uhat'
All downhill
Sledding was only one of many fun outdoor activities
enjoyed by Blyth Public School students during their winter
carnival last Friday. (Vicky Bremner photo)
transportation) routes are organized
in an efficient manner to eliminate
unnecessary travel time”;
“investigat(ing) methods to ensure
students do not falj behind their
classmates due to time missed as a
result of highway closure”; and the
creation of “transition teams” with
representation from the affected
schools.
One complicating factor could be
the provincial government’s new
guidelines for school closures. These
are still being developed, but some
details were released in mid
February.
Langan expressed confidence the
board's actions regarding St. Joseph’s
Kingsbridge will fall under the new
guidelines. That includes the
requirements for a certain level of
public consultation, as well as a
ruling that no school should be
placed on a list of potential closure
candidates more than once every five
years.
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