Huron Expositor, 2000-05-24, Page 2!-TME MORON EXPO:ITost. May !4, aoOo
News
Board's $200,000 error
causes justices' concern
Justices question whether or not
error brought to trustees' attention
Ily Scott Hib.ndorff
school at the end of June.
Expositor Editor .Charles Smith -had found a
. _.. _ - ___ S200.000 error in the board's
-The As on • Maitland estimated 5500.000 savings
Dtstrrct. School Board did .froth closing the school and
not protide enough - the-group.wanted a time
intormatton or time to to he extension to do a more
considered fair- in how. it -detailed anal \>Is'of-the
treated • .the . Seaforth -sayings since the discovery
community when deciding in . was made within days of a
February to dose Seaforth meeting• where trustees were
District High School. said going to vote•on closing the
lawyer Fred ' - - schools. -
• - Leitch. during Quoted Both -fides
the "Judicial - Were _ given
review. of a 'You'd have an hour each
civ t1 : ' case to " make
t• e' t •w a e- n to be an presentations
members of introverted to the judges
- the Seaforth andin •hiss
co m'm u n i t }' accountant to a r.g u me-nt.
and the -•school. .: hoard lawyer
hoard find that entry,' : Barry Brown.
'`11 w as so
•cast -to do the --Justice James Kent said that
S20.0.000
fight thine. regardinghow.error '. was
N'hwas it trustees were recalculated
hard"to do, it'.'.- i - informed of 1200,000 to the figures
_a-sked Letic-h i entry in report presented:to
as • he ! appendix • the hoard At'
explained its Fehruar-
w hat he •atJ m t
was onC. 0l the 1,e.\ ):Nue. Jf
unfairness -hs the hoard. •
The iudicta•; re,teNsuas
' held Finial hctore a. panel of -
• three iudgcs.who determined_
the school board could not .
-close Seaforth Disinci High
School' and -mo\ e Seaforth
• Public School' students to
that facility becau e it did;.
not treat the communit\
fairlh-,through" its•-4losure.
process
Leitch said :the..hoard
failed 1o,proy'ide a study
group. strucb to.find Way s to
sal e the hoard money
-hit
witut. haying: to close,
Seaforth •District- High
School. tsitfi an extension of
ume'to proper!} examine the
:. situation: -
He . said Alf Ross..
ti
'aureen. Agar. Carolanne
Doig.•Charles. Smith and
Dave Scutt had no -choice -
but to file a law suit against.
the board after it decided -in
Fehruar) to close the h•r>h
ee ing
where the closure decisions
were hong voted upon.
Brown was repeatedly
asked. by 'Justice ;Colin
McKinnon if. at any time.
staff -went before the trustees
to retake ibex -it -aware -of the -
.m take.
Brow n •continue"d to• refer
to the fact that the -error -was,
included • in the figures
presented to trustees as alt
appendix of the. director of
education's action report that -
recommehded Seaforth's
schools close.
' rt sounds to.,me._the short
answer is. 'No."' said Justice
McKinnon -
"You'd ha..e to: be an
introverte.d accountant to
find that entry. said Justice :
James Kent. -of the way the
:error was recalculated into
the financial data gi %en to
the' trustees:.
Leitch 'also stressed that
proper information was not
gi\en to the:study group to
. fairly asse! situation
. and have a chance to provide
knowledgeable alternatives
to closing the school.
He said they • were
mandated to look within
their community for savings
and not to look outside:
"it was like telling them.
'You're .going to have your
.mouth sewn shut..You're
going to have your hands
tied behind
your hack.
Now give it
your - hest
shot. That's
not fair."
Leitch said.
But Brown
s a• i
information
w -.a s
pro --ided to
•t • h e -
community
w. i I. h
financial
-data for -all
-of the
sc hoo.l s
across the -
school board district no
just -for Seafonh's schools.
He- said- the only area
where information was
denied was when the request
was impossible.
• The impossible came
when the committee wanted
information regarding how
• the board went from a list of
20. schools _ . it was
consideiin'g-for possibl
closure in 1998 toonly
seven schools in November.
1999.
Brown said that
information'-cIid not exist
because neither list -had
anything t� do with the other
and director of -education
Lorne Rachlis explained that
t0 the committee. •
In his presentation. Brown
said the Seaforth community
wanted equal time to other
study groups to examine the
closure issue but those other
groups were responding to a•
different situation.
.Those groups had, about
nine months to report to the
• hoard -hut .Brown said the
were- dealing with a broader
issue of looking- at .savings
while Seaforth's committee
was struck immediately after
a decision was made w-
its
its schools for closure. •
Brown said the other
group was not responding to
a narrowed down closure list
and therefore. Seaforth'.
Situation was different.
He said the.hoarcr. only
obligation -to- be fair to the
c11mmu"n11y-
�
was to pros ide o n' -e
opportunity to
p r. e e n t
Information to
:he hooarJ In art
.Itterrmpt • �o
,nfluence their
.redstart.
:"The Polk.
mh
a\ -a\ c
required one
o por•tunits .
•- hoar.f
Afforded the
,ornmunily l
,Ipportunitic.."
said. Brown of
the ;Special
Quoted
'The policy may
have required
one opportunity;
the board
afforded the
community 17
opportunities,'--
Lawyer Barry Brown
of the public's
opportunity to
address the board.
Community group willing
to work with school board
From Pogo 1
stud) group that was
assigned ,hy the -board' late
.last tioyerpher to come up
w ith .alternatis e sayings. that
could pre\ent•the school
from closing ,.
""Right noes. we're thrilled
with' the deL ision -hut were
[Wit certain where--eiervone
.goes from here. she said .
'She and .chair. .Alf Ross;
''.raid they _were waiting to
find our v hat the board
-'.. Sumthii
SpeCia
'a bouquet o
rA creative -1m' ,
Open Intel- w Jai /�
527-2435., ,
sl <..ar,,.tti , , -
decide.d-.to do about:the,
situation at- last .night's
meeting,:
Campbell- said 'while they
believed they: were right in •
•accusing_t.he hoard of not.
tieing. fair in its process. 'they
had no idca how the judges •
isould interpret the. course of
events that led them to the
cuurtroorn Fnday. -
•Ross said the group wants
to: cooperate with the board
iii f inding-'a solution to the
closure issue that
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resulted from provincial
education funding changes
and led the boardto looking
at school closures..to-save
costs.
"This is still all about the
education process in Seaforth
and that our kids get the very
best," said Ross.
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meetings- and
regularboard meeting.
where delegations could
address trustees before their
closure. vote.
.• He said the „ommunit\
had a chance to put forward
its suggestion. of men rni•
Grade ' and S student'..in- a
public school in Clinton and
Seaforth-into theirrespecti‘-e •
high school. to addresss the.
combined enrollment issues;
between the two
communities.
But Justice Kent s;r1J.
suggestions from the
community were 'negatively .
recei-ed h\ the hoard'and
presented by board staff to
trustees- in • a negatise
manner.
Brown 'also.- said the
hoard's school • closure
policy follows guidelines set
- out by the Ministry of
.Education and ,that they are
only .guideline.. not .written
'rules the board has to follow.
therefore. the closure policy
itself was lair and. hs going
an e‘tenst\e opportunity for
the public to.partidpate. was
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