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Page 10 March 15, 2006 • The Huron Expositor
News
Avon Maitland District School Board takes
a look at pr..jected decline in enrollment
Stew Slater
On the very evening the Thames
Valley District School Board
announced a draft plan to close 21
schools, based partly upon informa-
tion provided by the C.N. Watson
Group, the Avon Maitland District
School Board received its own
report from the Mississauga -based
consultants, highlighting 15 -year
projections for declining student
enrollment. Avon Maitland report, entitled
Late last year, C.N. Watson Group "Demographic Trends and
used its analysis of future demo- Associated Enrollment Projections"
graphics in the former Oxford, Elgin and presented to trustees on the
and Middlesex County school same night as the Thames Valley
boards to recommend the closure of announcement, provided only analy-
61 schools over the next four years. sis about how many students will be
The board's provincially -required enrolled between now and 2020.
Capital Planning report, released'on "In past accommodation reviews,
Feb. 28, suggested following (the Avon Maitland board) got criti-
through on 21 of those recommenda- : cized for not coming to the public
tions, including the closure of A.J. . with independent numbers about.
Baker Public future enrollment," explained busi-
School south of ness superintendent Janet Baird -
St. Marys and Jackson, following the meeting.
McGillivray She added the board will now take
Central Public : `the C.N. Watson information to
School in north- community-based school councils
west Middlesex beginning this spring, in prepara-
County. tion for its next full-scale accommo-
dation review.
C.N. Watson Group senior consul-
tant Jack Ammendolia's report
tracked the numbers of children
from various different age groups
during past census periods, and
attempted to project that 15 years
into the future.
Important factors included birth
rates, migration into and out of the
district, and something called
"apportionment" -- which refers to
the percentage of the area's school -
aged children who attend school in
either the public, Catholic or non
publicly -funded education systems.
'Population growth by natural
increase (births versus deaths) is
pretty well done as we know it," the
C.N. Watson Group representative
said.
A new factor being considered; he
said, is the ratio of students in
Grades 6, 7 and 8 versus those in
Junior Kindergarten, Senior
Kindergarten and Grade 1.
"If you know that the numbers in
your Primary grades are less than
PUBLIC NOTICE
RE: 2006 Municipality of Central Huron Budget
This notice is given under the provisions of the Municipal
Act, 2001, S.O. c 25, s. 291 (1) Notice — Before adopting all
or part of a budget under section 289 or 290, or amending
such a budget, a municipality shall give public notice of its
intention to adopt or amend the budget at a council meeting
specified in the notice.
The Draft 2006 Municipality of Central Huron Budget will be
presented and considered for adoption at the Regular Meeting
of Council, Monday, March 20, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the
Council Chamber, 23 Albert Street, Clinton, Ontario.
Richard Harding,
Clerk Administrator
Municipality of Central Huron
Unlike the
Thames Valley
board, however,
the Avon -
Maitland board.
stopped short of
requesting rec-
ommendations
from the consul-
tants.
Instead, the
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your Senior grades, then you know
that enrollment is going down,"
Ammendolia explained.
Speaking to reporters following
his presentation, Ammendolia
admitted that projected enrollments
in the Avon Maitland board are gen-
erally similar to those in other
rural -based school boards, where
school closures have been proposed
recently.
But he cautioned that such deci-
sions "depend on what the board
has as its planning priorities .. .
The (demographic) numbers are not .
the sole determining factor in decid-
ing whether ornot a school is going
to close."
Pertji East representative Tina
Traschel, the only Avon Maitland
trustee whose territory doesn't
include a town large enough for a
secondary school, wondered
whether some of the factors consid-
ered by the C.N. Watson Group are
relevant in rural areas.
In particular, she mentioned new
residential developments, which are
often not a priority in agriculture -
based municipalities.
Ammendolia agreed it can be diffi-
cult to accurately track enrollment
in an area where data must be col-
lected on a municipality -wide basis
as opposed to, in some cases,- a city
block -by -city block basis.
He noted that, when one or two
students leave a rural area, it can
have a much greater effect than
when one or two students leave a
city neighbourhood.
"It definitely is a greater chal-
lenge in the rural areas," he said,
before explaining C.N. Watson has
considerable experience working in
rural Ontario, and is confident the
company's methods are effective in
such cases.
Student selected to play
in national concert band
From Page 9
soloists, was also selected as a par-
ticipant in the national concert
band, which is made up of students
from across Canada.
Coinciding with the national festi-
val, the students develop their
musical talent, technique and skill
while being immersed in a week of
peer workshops and master classes
with clinicians from across North
America.
At the end of the national festival,
the band presents two showcase
concerts.
"It was a big day for us," Moore
said of the regional festival. "It's
really quite an honour to have some-
one chosen from our school for the
national band."
CHSS's bands travelled to
Montreal for the national festival
two years ago.
"In my (very short) career, I have
never been so proud or felt so lucky
to lead these groups toward their
goals and to help them achieve their
potential as artists," Moore added.
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