The Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-04-01, Page 19Early starting date has school
year competing with tourism
It didn't take me
very long when I heard
that our local school
boards decided to start
the 2009-2010 school
yeara week before
Labour Day to realize
that it was a decision
that was not at all
compatible with our
town and surrounding
communities.
The reason given for this deci-
sion is that the next school year
is odd in that the new provin-
cially mandated Family Day• in
February makes it almost impos-
sible to squeeze those 194
required instructional days into
the days that remain.
Given the hands-on decision-
making style that has framed
the current Minister of Education
and the McGuinty government
involving a glut of issues and
planning within the public edu-
cation system over the last num-
ber of years, I was surprised to
learn that Education Minister
Kathleen Wynne seemed unpre-
pared for this glitch and unwill-
ing to do anything about it.
In statements to media Wynne
has chosen a hands-off approach
to this issue, leaving the school
boards to . figure their own way
around the problem.
As London Free Press reporter
Joe Belanger reported in his
editorial on March 17, Minister
Wynne urged school boards to
go back to their communities,
school councils, and consult
with them to make the decision
on the start of the new school
year.
My question now becomes,
did the Huron -Perth Catholic
School Board and the Avon
Maitland District School Board
trustees canvass their school
councils, which are in place to
review just such issues?
Did they call a various munic-
ipal tourism departments and
recreation providers to deter-
mine how the decision to start
school before the official end of
the summer vacation?
If they did not, then this is a
decision that is wrong-headed
for this community.
Just a few short weeks ago I
wrote a column on how our
tourism is being challenged by
not just the economic situation
we all face now, but by new
regulations being imposed on
operators.
In his report on the
future of tourism in
Ontario, former finance
Minister Greg Sorbara,
it said that tourism
means $22 billion to
the province as a
whole.
Take away just one
week amounts to a pos-
sible loss of approxi-
mately $2 billion overall and
$200 million in Provincial Sales
Tax if boards cut the week from
the vacation time.
It's not a stretch to figure out
that if you take one week away
from the tourist season, tourism
revenues from the industry in
our region will indeed suffer.
Most summer camps' timeta-
bles run up to. and including
Labour Day.
Local recreation departments
stand to lose one week's worth
ofsummer programming reve-
• nue and a loss also for those
non-profit agencies running
food concessions.
Businesses which employ
summer students depend on
those students showing. up for
work in that last week.
For students, that extra week's
salary is needed if they're
returning to post -secondary or
saving up in any way.
At a time when our town in
particular is being battered by
job losses and a school closure
the school boards have made a
bad decision for its community.
I encourage the trustees to
revisit this issue.
Our trustees are normally very
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effective public servants and a
tune to the needs of their school
communities.
I would also encourage school
councils to get this issue on the
next possible school council
agenda or canvass your parents
to get their input.
That's exactly why school
councils are in place.
Having input into things like
the school year calendar is one
the short-list of one of the most
basic of roles for a school coun-
cil.
Municipalities, camp opera-
tors, and businesses in the region
which depend on that last. week
to top off their summer revenues
need to call on their elected rep-
resentatives at the board tables
and impress upon them to find
another alternative to a problem
that was government created.
It's noble that after almost
seven years in power that the
Minister of Education suddenly
finds religion and calls • on
school boards to fix a problem
created by government, when
this government has demon-
strated itself to be the most
micro -managing and prescrip-
tive when it comes to letting
trustees do their jobs than either
of the two previous provincial
governments.
It is very ironic to me that the
reason for this blip in the school
year is around Family Day, _but
by starting school earlier 'tan
usual those same families will
have their time together cut
short.
It's back to the drawing board
on this issue folks!
t11
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GODERkH
Canada's prettiest town
NOTICE
CITIZENS OF
THE TOWN OF GODERICH
A Communities in Bloom Committee.
meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 14th,
at 7:00 p.m., Tourist Booth, Nelson Street
entrance. The agenda for the meeting will
include getting ready for the 2009 gardening
season. Volunteers are always welcomed and
,401 fibk
needed.
If interested, you are cordially invited to attend
es*
or call Barb MacKenzie at 524-7308 or
Shelley Peet at 524-4393.
Shelley Peet, Chairperson
Communities in Bloom
6 ''
1
•
Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - Page A19
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