HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2011-12-21, Page 9nal Star • Wednesday, December 21, 201
n Maitland District School Board
posal says close Colborne and bus students to rural schools
ykes
eh Signal -Star
.eft option presented to the Avon
ind District School Board last
esday night calls for the closure
borne Public. School with stu-
to be bussed to either Brookside
School or Holmesville Public
1.
i esenting a modified option to
cernber meeting of the Holmes-
t:olborne Accommodation
w Committee (tC) meeting,
esville School representative
a Peterson outlined an option.
Auld have students living south
h Road bussed to .Holmesville
1 and those living north would
Brookside Public School.
The option eliminates sending any
Colborne students to either Goderich
Public School or GDCI Elementary,
options that were part of earlier pro-
posals and discussions.
A prepared statement presented to
the meeting says that the option would
elevate school capacity to the 90-95
per cent level and meet parents' expec-
tations for a rural school option.
"(It) provides a sustainable rural
option making efficient use of existing
capacities at Brookside Public School
and Holmesville Public School: the
report said. 'It sustains the smaller
school atmosphere that has proven to
increase student success by discourag-
ing bullying and increasing student
participation- in extra curricular
activities."
,end liarrj \rJ
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We would like to get
public input so if you
could post the option
early, people can
review it and can be
a delegation at the
meeting:'
-- ARC
Representatives of Colborne
School told the meeting that the
rural option was simply a start-
ing point in the process and
Darlene Hewitt added that "
families would like to'keep Col-
borne students together and we
need to start there!
A recent survey conducted
with families of Colborne School
students showed that over 75
per cent would prefer to keep
the Colborne students together.
in one school. Nearly 30,per
cent of the families said they
would prefer to send their
children to Goderich Public
School while 17 families indi-
cated that Holmesville School
was a desired option. Eleven
families opted for GDCI Ele-
mentary School and three fatui-
ties indicated Brookside School
would be a preferred option.
Twenty families indicated
that none of the options, other
than Colborne School, were
preferred.
ARC has been meeting
monthly and will be challenged
in the next two. months to pre-
pare its final option -for presen-
tation at its Feb. 15 meeting at
Colborne Public School. Com-
mittee members were advised
to have the option available
before the meeting to give the
publican opportunity to review
and to present as a delegation
at the Feb. 15 meeting,
"You will present to the pub-
lic at the Feb. 15 meeting,* Mike
Ash, Superintendent of Educa-
tion - School Operations for the
Avon Maitland School Board
said. "We would like to get pub-
lic input so if you could post the
option early, people can review
it and can be a delegation at the
meeting."
The school board staff will
present its optlo :. to the school
board on March 27 and during
the first week of May the board
will host a special meeting to
entertain delegations from the
public, which may include
members of the ARC which will
be disbanded in March.
In response to a question for-
warded by Colborne parents
about how the mold issue went
undetected at the .school,
Superintendent of Business
Operations, Janet Baird Jackson
told the meeting that formal
inspections of facilities are con-
ducted every four of five years.
"By the time we were notified
of a problem there were issues
of water penetration through
the roof into a classroom. The.
classroom was sealed off and
we had an investigation of the
facility through June and July7
she said. "The results indicted
a more substantial water pene-
tration problem and mold
issues"'
She told the meeting there is
a 10 -year warranty on the roof
but that it was past its expira-
tion date.
When asked about a 1.0 -year
vision for the elementary
schools in the county and
whether or not school closures
would come under scrutiny
again, Ash said that the board's
enrolment projections suggest
that another Arc will not be
needed within the mut 18 yam,
Meriy Christmas
�ri & Anne at
Hair An=ted You
ThankYou
for your patronage
for so many years.
We welcome you all back
for 2012 along with new
clients to start another
A, great year!
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