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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-12-17, Page 22 Times -Advocate Wednesday, December 17, 2008 Talks on Usborne Central's future continue By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF USBORNE The fate of Usborne Central School re- mains up in the air as the Avon Maitland District School Board s Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) con- tinues to hold public meetings about the school s future. The latest ARC meeting was Dec. 10 at the school, with the committee discussing possible scenarios involving Us - borne. As previously reported, the school board decided to re- view Usborne s future because the board has too many empty pupil places in its school. With 128 students, Us - borne Central is at only 55.5 per cent capacity. With school boards receiving funding based on the number of pupils they have, the board is looking to reduce its excess pupil places. Discussed in greater detail last week were three possible scenarios about the future of Usborne, all of which involve the school closing. The first scenario sees Usborne closing and all the stu- dents moving to Exeter Public School (EPS). Numbers show EPS can hold all the Usborne students and, with forecasts that show declining enrolment, EPS would still have two excess classrooms by 2012-13. ARC member Helen Kadey expressed the lack of "green space" at EPS and said with both Usborne and Exeter students at EPS, there would be 388 students in 2009-10 in a small outside area during recess. She wondered if the school has enough space outside for all the students. Board superintendent Mike Ash said EPS students can use the property at South Huron District High School (SH - DHS) and South Huron Rec Centre for a concern about borne s future towards the end of the school year. Numbers show that another option discussed at the No- vember meeting isn t viable. That situation would move all the JK to Grade 3 students in Exeter and Usborne to Usborne Central and move all the Grade 4 to 8 students to EPS. Kadey said that would lead to 209 students in Us - borne and 92 per cent capacity, although it would only leave EPS at 60 per cent capacity with 259 students. Close Exeter instead? Kadey did, though, offer another possibility close EPS, move all the JK to Grade 6 students to Usborne and move the Grade 7 and 8 students to the high school. Such a situa- tion would require an addition at Usborne, but Kadey said it would be done in an environmentally friendly way with a geo-thermal heating system. Responding to that, board business superintendent Janet Baird -Jackson said it takes 27-28 years to make the savings back on geo-thermal heating and by then a new heating system would be required anyway. She said geo-thermal heating doesn t make economic sense for the board. High EQAO results Usborne parent Ted Oke reminded the committee of the exceptional results Usborne students have earned in the province s EQAO testing. "Those are results to be proud of," Oke said, compliment- ing Usborne s staff. He said he sees the As previously reported, the school board decided to review Usborne s future because the board has too many empty pupil places in its school.With 128 students, Usborne Central is at only 55.5 per cent capacity. gym classes, although he was unsure of the recess situation. The second scenario would also see Usborne close, with the Kindergarten to Grade 6 students moving to EPS, and the 121 Grade 7 and 8 students going to SHDHS. That sce- nario, Ash said, would give Grade 7 and 8 students access to specialized classes such as shop class and it would also use up some of the surplus space at the high school, as well as ease up some scheduling pressures at EPS. In that scenario, the Grade 7 and 8 students would be situated in their own wing at the high school. "We plan for segregation, but not total isolation," Ash said, acknowledging that while some parents have con- cerns about Grade 7 and 8 students going to a high school, board studies show there are no significant differences in achievement or behavioural issues with such a scenario. In fact he said there are no documented problems in Avon Maitland between the Grade 7 and 8 students and high school students. The third scenario sees Usborne closing and students moving to EPS, Stephen Central or South Perth Centen- nial, depending on where they live, although Ash said he thinks the community would prefer to see most of the stu- dents go to the same school, a sentiment echoed by school board trustee Randy Wagler. The above three scenarios aren t necessarily what will happen, but they are possibilities the committee can look at. The ARC will make recommendations to the board in February, with board trustees making the decision on Us - benefit of small schools and doesn t want to see the quality of education de- cline if students are moved to another school. Ash said the board also doesn t want to see that. He said combined classes, a situation that can happen at small schools with low enrolment, is also a concern of the board. Parent Wendy Cleave asked what would be the benefit of closing Us - borne and wanted to know informa- tion such as what the student to teacher ratio would be if all the students moved to Exeter and what bus times would look like. Ash said student to teacher ratios are set by the prov- ince and by collective bargaining agreements. In primary grades, the board has to have a system -wide average of a maximum of 20 students per teacher in a classroom, al- though up to 10 per cent of the classes can have 23 stu- dents per teacher. In junior classes, the average is 27 stu- dents per teacher. As for bus times, the board is involved in a consortium with the Catholic board and meets Ministry standards to find the shortest routes at the best times. Wagler said some bus times for Usborne students could change depending on what scenario is decided upon, al- though he said if all the students move to EPS, he wouldn t expect there would be a big impact on bus times. When discussion of the condition of the buildings arose, board accommodation administrator Phil McCotter said Usborne and Exeter are in similar condition. Usborne, while it needs a new roof, is said to be in good condition and is being reviewed because of low enrolment numbers, not because of the building. Ash said the Avon Maitland board and the former Hu- ron and Perth boards have done a great job at maintain- ing their buildings and that makes it even tougher to close them. ARC member George Robertson noted the former Us - borne Township put up a debenture for the school s con- struction in the 1960s which shows residents paid to build the school. He also asked what will happen to the war me- morial at the school if the school closes and is sold. Wagler said the board owns the school and proceeds from any sale will go back to the board, but he said the war memorial should be moved to another spot everyone can agree upon. "It s community history," he said, adding the fate of the memorial is something that can be discussed as a "transi- tion detail" if the school closes. He said the board wouldn t just sell the school and aban- don the memorial. Baird -Jackson said in the past the board has found a new home for such items. Robertson said the memorial should stay with Usborne students. "A huge challenge" Ash acknowledged that with declining enrolment, the Avon Maitland board has "a huge challenge" ahead of it and will be doing at least one accommodation review every year for many years to come. He said discussions being held now at school boards are similar to what hap- pened in the late 1960s when the old one -room schools were being closed. "It s a painful process," he admitted. Wagler said the board wants to sustain a high quality of education at its schools and "if it s in this building, that would be great, but we don t think we can." The ARC s next meeting at Usborne is Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. In the meantime, Ash asked the committee to draft pre- liminary ideas on what it wants its February report to the board to look like. The draft report will be presented to trustees at Usborne in February, while the final report will later be made at a board meeting. Wagler reminded the committee and those in attendance that any scenarios concerning the school s future need to have a reasonable chance of success. Communities in Bloom calendar now available SOUTH HURON Area students recently had the op- portunity to put their artistic skills to the test by participat- ing in the latest project by the local Communities in Bloom committee. South Huron Coun. Cathy Seip reported at Monday night s council meeting that students from Exeter Public, Precious Blood, Usborne Central, Mount Carmel and Ste- phen Central provided artwork for a 2009 Communities in Bloom calendar that depicts scenes from throughout the municipality. Seip said the project was undertaken to increase com- munity involvement. She noted Communities in Bloom has now expanded to include all of South Huron, not just Exeter. Calendars are available for $5 from any Communities in Bloom member, at the South Huron Rec Centre or at Wilds Everywear Graphics. Gas extraction and storage project meeting irritates residents Continued from front page Blake said the leases are registered docu- ments that transfer with title to the land and don t allow development on the sur- face of the lands within Zurich. He added the well sites are covered by municipal setback bylaws and enforced by the MNR. Blake said while Tribute is unsure of the exact location of the reef, it believes it is around the northwest area of Zurich. There are two choices in Ontario, said Lowrie. Build a lot of pipeline or build storage. In a question and answer session after the presentation, Lowrie was asked if the leas- es would affect property values. It s not a risk, she replied. It increases property values. Asked what would happen if no oil or gas was found in the reef, Lowrie replied then the deal is done. There is a risk in- volved, it s not a cheap business to be in. Even if seismic says yes, it isn t always there. That s the business. In response as to why the $500 amount was picked, Lowrie said, I thought it more than fair. Several of the residents expressed con- cerns about complications on selling their homes and extra legal fees that they said the $500 wouldn t cover. Lowrie said the company has never had any calls from land owners and that the technology involved isn t new. Asked how many leases would be re- quired for the project to go ahead, Blake said Tribute hasn t discussed how many it needs and is hoping to get as many as pos- sible. In response to questions about threats to water quality in the area and who would pay for cleanup and decommissioning work, Blake said baseline water test stud- ies are done before any drilling starts as well as further testing as the project pro- gresses. Asked what recourse Tribute has if not enough residents sign leases, Blake said it would be up to the OEB and since there is a need for storage and the board doesn t want to build pipelines, they can impose a lease. Other concerns from the residents in- volved how much pressure the reef would be under after the gas was pumped into it and whether there was any risk. Blake said engineers would calculate how much pressure would be needed to crack the rock and build in a safety factor. Our guarantee is that everything is reg- ulated, said Blake. It falls under the OEB and MNR. Blake described the odds against an acci- dent as astronomical, everything is highly engineered. Anything is possible but it hasn t happened before. Blake said Tribute has pools under sever- al Lambton hamlets, and the people aren t aware they are there, but Zurich residents expressed concern that Tribute has never developed a project under a residential area the size of Zurich before. Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson said the concerns of the residents hadn t been an- swered by Tribute during the meeting and would need to be before the project could go ahead. Zurich resident Heather Redick ex- pressed the feelings of many in the audi- ence when she told the Tribute staff, had you approached us in a different way, it would have been better so we weren t be- ing pressured...I don t appreciate the way I was approached. Had you done your homework, you would have been pre- pared. Blake admitted Tribute hadn t been able to provide enough information to the resi- dents during the meeting and said it would work with the municipality to inform resi- dents better about the proposed project.