The Times Advocate, 2008-04-09, Page 3Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Times -Advocate
3
New school recommended for Lucan
By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE
LUCAN — A community-based committee has offi-
cially sided with Thames Valley District School Board
administrators in their recommendation to consoli-
date students from five different elementary schools
into two new facilities in Thorndale and Lucan.
But representatives on that committee from Prince
Andrew Public School near Bryanston will file a
minority report in opposition to the stance.
"A new JK -8 school would be constructed in Lucan
to accommodate the current students from Biddulph
Central, Lucan Public School and a portion of the stu-
dents from Prince Andrew. A second school would be
constructed in the Village of Thorndale to accommo-
date students from Plover Mills, Leesboro Central and
a portion of the students from Prince Andrew. The
existing Biddulph Central, Leesboro Central, Lucan,
Plover Mills and Prince Andrew Public Schools would
close," states the primary recommendation from the
board -mandated Middlesex Study Area 2
Accommodation Review Committee (ARC).
The ARC is one of 10 such committees — consisting
of representatives from school councils, the business
community and municipal councils — formed last
year in specified school clusters scattered around the
counties of Elgin, Middlesex and Oxford, and the City
of London. The ARCs were charged with organizing
public meetings to assess the value of each existing
school to the community, as well as examining the
viability of the board's recommendations for dealing
with enrolment changes within each cluster.
The board's accommodation review policy calls for
those reports to then be provided to trustees as an
additional resource in their decision-making process.
The Middlesex Study Area 2 ARC tentatively final-
ized its recommendations at a meeting March 17 at
Biddulph Central. Following the example of an ARC
in Oxford County that had earlier submitted its report
to the board, the committee provided its stance on
the staff proposal but also included a series of "sub -
recommendations" that it would like to see addressed
if the proposal moves forward.
A final public meeting is scheduled for Thursday at
Lucan Public School to allow a last chance for input
into the ARC's report. Following the meeting, "final
changes will be made if necessary," states the section
of the Thames Valley website devoted to Middlesex
Study Area 2. "The completed ARC report will be
then forwarded to the board administration for
review before it is tabled with the board of trustees."
The ARC report can be viewed at that website,
located at www.tvdsb.on.ca/areastudy/arc/middle-
sex2.shtml
Sub -recommendations in the report include a
request to "work directly with parents to consider
new boundaries that better reflect which school the
students should attend"; and call for "sufficient bus-
ing so that no trip is longer than 35 minutes."
The ARC also hopes to ensure that, if Prince
Andrew closes, senior students could finish their ele-
mentary careers with their classmates if they choose,
no matter whether their families fall into the Lucan
or Thorndale catchment areas.
The potential splitting of the Prince Andrew student
population has been a sore point throughout the
process — and continues to be in spite of the ARC's
final recommendation. Granton resident Melanie
Dodds, Prince Andrew's school council representative
on the ARC, says the school's supporters plan to file a
"minority report" with the Thames Valley board,
opposing the official Middlesex Study Area 2
response.
At one point, Dodds presented an alternative pro-
posal to the ARC, calling for either keeping Prince
Andrew open or having its entire student population
relocated to Centennial Public School near Arva. The
final ARC report notes that Prince Andrew's "alterna-
tive recommendation was defeated by the committee
(with) five in favour and eight opposed."
Thursday's public meeting in Lucan begins at 7
p.m.
Hungry students —The annual South Huron District High School (SHDHS) 30 Hour Famine was underway at the school again over the weekend with over 130 stu-
dents taking part from noon on Friday to 6 p.m. on Saturday.The event raised for $9894.72 for World Vision and organizers thanks all the sponsors. (photo/Pat Bolen)
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Sign of spring —The tundra swans are making their annual migratory flight through Southwestern Ontario,
stopping in South Huron last week in a field on Crediton Road east of McTaggart Line.The eastern population
of the swans begins its migration from North Carolina and Maryland, eventually making their way across Lake
Erie, stopping in Long Point,Aylmer and Grand Bend, making their way to Michigan and heading north where
they end up on the Mackenzie River Delta and the Arctic coast.
(photos/Scott Nixon)
Council awards tenders
SOUTH HURON — South Huron
council held a special meeting
March 31 to deal with a variety of
tenders.
Jennison Construction Limited was
awarded the crushed gravel tender
at a price of $376,624.31. Jennison
was the low bidder of four compa-
nies who submitted quotes, ranging
in price from the low Jennison price
to the highest bid of $478,689.91.
The dust control tender went to
low bidder 552976 Ontario Limited
(Cliff Holland) at a quote of
$58,514.40. The municipality
received five bids on the job, with a
high quote of $91,766.47.
Upon a recommendation from
road superintendent Ken Betties, the
municipality decided to buy a 2002
Elgin street sweeper from Joe
Johnson Equipment for $65,000.
South Huron's existing 1974 sweep-
er has become unreliable and
expensive to maintain, Betties'
report stated.
While council had asked Betties to
provide a comparison in price
between buying a sweeper and hir-
ing a contractor to do the work,
Betties said savings of up to $6,420
yearly should be saved by buying the
sweeper.
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