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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-08-19, Page 18Page AIB - Goderich Si9reL51ar, Wednesday, August 19, 2003 Town council's support of school alliance justified I was not surprised to learn that the Goderich Town Council had joined a growing list of small and rural municipalities in support of the Community Schools Affiance. Spearheaded by Doug Reycraft, Mayor of Southwest Middlesex, and past -president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) the Community Schools Affiance is asking Education Minister Kathleen Wynne to support a "smart moratorium" on all school closings disputed by municipalities. The goal of the smart moratorium is for the Ministry, boards and municipalities to work better together in developing policies unique to the needs of small town and rural school communities in a way that the current guide- lines don't support. "No community should lose their school if they don't want to lose it," said Reycraft, chair of the Community Schools Alliance. "Ontario municipalities are concerned about the Accommodation Review Committee pro- cess and the impact this flawed process has on the socio-economic fabric of our commu- nities." Responding to 104.9 The Beach on the launch of the new group, Avon Maitland DSB superintendent Mike Ash saw merit in the formation of a new group dedicated to saving rural schools, but only to a point. Ash said that the Alliance's arguments fall flat in the fact of economics. Readers will remember that The Signal Star followed the Goderich ARC process from start to finish. Flaws in the process were raised by the folks at the table several " times by various individuals at the ARC table including Myles Murdock and Deb Shewfelt who represented town council on the ARC. Specifically, the town council representa- tives raised the issue of the decision of the Avon Maitland District School Board's target of some of the schools within a cluster and the exclusion of others in the same cluster. Both Deb and Myles raised the issue of the process being somewhat short-sighted in scope by not including all of the schools in the Goderich cluster in the review. In defending council's decision to add their support to the Community Schools Alliance, Murdock said that municipal representatives are often part of the local accommodation review committees but they really don't have much influence in decid- ing the fate of the schools involved. Murdock's comments are in line with the feedback theAvon Maitland DSS__ received --at its June 16 2008 meeting and review of the accommodation review process. The Community Schools Alliance is also set to bring forward their concem that rural/ small school communities are being unfairly targeted for closure by urban -oriented school boards. In a July 8, London Free Press article Affiance President Reycraft pointed to a recent study conducted in his hometown of Glencoe which found that rural, small schools are paying the price for vacant seats in more urban schools. That is exactly what has been reflected recently by Toronto Sun columnist Moira MacDonald who shed light on how the Toronto boards have dithered in doing their part to address their under -enrolled schools. In herJuly6Sun column, MacDonald shared that despite a decade long decline in enrolment the Toronto District School Board has 110 of its 558 schools below 60 per cent of their enrolment capacity, and on aver - r ---- ver- 4 ' ' R E j i it, I I` Scptcmb r -s Ft 4th & 5th Steve Strongman Band & David Rotunda Band with special guest Memphis Tim • • 1 -Tickets $75 Ernie King Hosie 104.9 the Be,ic h VVWV''.WeS t (_0d st 1_)1 t I (.'s.c,-) (it)1,1I1 westco )sthlu( 'Ulf KM ONEORWS W Ur Mar erich SIA Huron Economic Development Matters Town age are half -enrolled or less. Yet apart from one technical school, no schools have been closed since 2001 by that board. Another aspect of the new provincial guide- lines that has come under scrutiny of late is the appeals process conducted by very well paid facilitators who have never found in favour of a schoolcommunity. f was shocked to leam (MacDonald — August 9), that former education Minister Dave Cooke and Ontario College of Teachers registrar Margaret Wilson are charged by the government to lead the appeals and reviews to the tune of $1,200 a day, for an average of $9,000 a review, according to the ministry. With 13 reviews over the past year, you do the math and tell me if the reviews which do little to change the decision and plans set out by boards is worth it. Perhaps that money would be better used to help our small school communities market their communities that might help fill those empty seats than on pointless reviews? Later this month Mr. Reycraft is expected to raise the concerns of the Community Schools Alliance at the Municipalities of Ontario Annual General Meeting. They have also invited Minister Wynne to address the group's meeting in Ottawa on August 17th. Minister Wynne to her credit saw fit to include municipal representation on the ARCs but just how committed she is to actually lis- tening and involving municipal leaders in the decision on the fates of their schools is the big question. I support the Goderich Council in their sup- port of the Community Schools Affiance. Rural and small communities need effective advocates at every level. The benefits of small schools are many. Keeping them open and viable takes work but for those who choose to make small and rural towns their home do so attracted to those benefits that small schools offer. 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