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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-06-03, Page 19CO Godench Signal -Star, Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - Page A19 Provincial Report on declining enrollment fails small schools During the summer of 2008 the Minister of Education conducted consultations on the effects of de- clining enrolment on Ontario's. schools. The consultation was by in- vitation only and included only the Minister's "official" advisory groups. All education partners were in- vited to submit feedback to the de- clining enrolment working group on how they were .experiencing the impacts of declining enrolment in their school communities. It was a disorganized process and one that seemed oddly subdued, so parents and school councils are ex- cused if they never laid eyes on the talking points or contributed any- thing to the Minister's declining enrolment working group. In Mardi 2009 the province re- leased the report which resulted from the Declining Enrolment Working Group. (www.edu.gov. on.ca) There is nothing contained with- in the report that those who are involved with small and/or rural schools haven't experienced for the last number of years. Similarly, the solutions offered in the report to deal with declining en- rolment are ones which most small boards have arrived at years ago out of necessity. For the Goderich schools in the Avon Mai- tland board this report comes one year toxo late. The preamble to the twenty-one recommenda- tions says, "If closure or consolidation is the only solution considered, we risk losing sight of our primary goal — -the. con- tinuous improvement of student achievement ". Would it have changed the out- come for Victoria, Robertson and GDCI? It might have. Recommendation number four of the twenty-one listed in the re- port identifies flaws with the new accommodation review guide- lines, something that the Goderich ARC identified very early on in the process and again during the evaluation and which are still being questioned by communities going through the process now. It reads; "The Accommodation Review Committee(ARC) process should be modified -reviewing the school valuation framework, the nature of the advice ARCs should offer, the consultation process, the role of school board personnel on ARCs and the possibility that some processes could be streamlined." • Ronald Reads Photo submitted The Goderich Library had a special visitor on Tuesday May 19. Children who'�afterided, participated" in a craft and enjoyed Stories' read. k j .►1 (Qr aIIN60ona.Jd .hir)'*%L t 4 "The ARC process seems to create expecta- tions about community involvement and consul- tation that it is often not able to• fulfil. And the process lacks the flexibil- ity to address board -wide issues; ARC's usually focus on specific schools or sets of schools even though the space and enrolment issues may be board - wide." Fixing the funding formula, in- creasing efficiencies, finding new ways to make us of school space through community partnerships, and getting more creative in pre- paring for continual decline in en- rolments are also highlighted as recommendations in the report. I'm pretty sure that none of those comes as a shock to our small school boards but we'll remem- ber that those recommendations involve the same issues the gov- ernment promised to 'tfix" when elected in 2003. In fact nothing in the report changes the fact that Ontario schools have already lost 68,000 students since 2(X)3 and it is fore- cast that another 72,(X)0 students will be lost over the next five years, which works out to an approximate eight per cent drop. What's missing in the report com- pletely is a call for the government and school boards to consider find- ing efficiencies by streamlining the ranks of the well-paid ministry bu- reaucrats and administrations that have grown their ranks over the last six years as enrolments plunge. It shouldn't require more adminis- trators/bureaucrats to manage fewer students, but nothing has been of- fered by the Minister's declining en- rolment working group that would see an equivalent eight per cent drop in school board administration and ministry bureaucracy as a means of finding those efficiencies that are currently being found by closing and consolidating schools. Common sense tells us .that it also shouldn't cost us more each year to educate fewer students, but that's exactly what's happening. Before the government continues to requirc school communities to close and reorganize schools, the Education Premier better be darn sure that a downsizing of school boards and ministry keeps pace with and moves in the same direction as our declining student population. Closing schools and disrupting communities without a serious shift and downsize in governance is just wrong. That it's not included as a partial solution in the report on declining enrolment should concern us all as our community moves through the next few years. AlzheimerSociety HURON COUNTY cordially invites you to join us for our Annual General Meeting Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 7pm Betty Cardno Memorial Centre 317 Huron Road, Clinton, Ontario Refreshments to Follow RSVP by Tuesday, June 16, 2009 519-482-1482 or 1-800-561-5012 r 1 1 1 1 1 Learn to Drive and Feel Confident For Year Round Driving With DOMINION DRIVER TRAINING 4 - Day Class June, 25, 26, 29 & 30. 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