The Citizen, 2007-12-06, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2007.Throne Speeches aren’t known fortheir specifics, so it can’t beexpected that last Wednesday’sOntario government version wouldlead to immediate changes in the
province’s education system.
But according to the presidents of
the province’s two school board
trustee lobby organizations – both of
whom are now from Huron-Perth
and both of whom attended the
Throne Speech release in Toronto –
there were definitely some
meaningful messages for educators.
“Parts of it were definitely written
with education in mind,” explained
Avon Maitland District School
Board trustee Colleen Schenk ofWingham, who last weekend movedfrom acting spokesperson to newly-elected president of the OntarioPublic School Boards Association.For Schenk, the most significanteducation-related announcementwas a pledge to decrease the
presence of saturated fats – or
“trans-fats” – in the food consumed
inside Ontario’s schools.
“With the high incidence of
diabetes in our youth, it certainly
will help if this becomes reality,” she
said.
Details on the pledge weren’t
provided, but Schenk suggested any
effort to reduce trans-fats would
probably see the Education ministry
cooperating with other ministries to
implement changes inside schoolcafeterias and vending machines.Stratford resident Bernard Murray,also in attendance at the ThroneSpeech as president of the OntarioCatholic School TrusteesAssociation, categorized theeducation thrust of the speech as “a
continuation of what (the newly re-
elected Liberals rolled out in their
previous mandate), which I think is
good news.”
Premier Dalton McGuinty’s
cabinet changes didn’t affect the
Education ministry, with Kathleen
Wynne retaining her position as
Minister. So Murray expects more of
what happened prior to the Oct. 10
election.
“I think everyone has to agree that
they did do some good things in thatfirst term for education,” he said.Specifically, he pointed to thecreation of the Literacy andNumeracy Secretariat, which put inplace initiatives to boost the abilityof teachers to target studentsstruggling in these areas.
Murray expressed concern,
however, with a Liberal pledge to
address the provincial education
funding formula by 2010. He’d like
to see that happen earlier,
particularly because it will then take
several months or even years to
make changes once they decide what
changes should be made.
The most significant element of
the Throne Speech, however, was
probably the commitment to follow
through on a campaign promise tointroduce full-day, every-dayprogramming for students in Juniorand Senior Kindergarten. In aseparate event, the governmentannounced it has appointed someoneto lead the phasing-in of thisprogramming by 2010.
Avon Maitland education director
Geoff Williams praised the intent of
the move, saying “the more support
you give children at that age, the
better their success rate in later
years.” But he cautioned the move
will be costly.
“Space for kindergarten-aged kids
is quite specialized,” he explained,
citing the examples of smaller-sized
toilets and regulatory requirements
for the amount of space per child.
Throne Speech has good news for education
Elementary students in St. Marys
could move into a new school as
early as January, 2009, thanks to the
provincial Education Ministry’s
declaration that the town’s two
existing elementary schools are
“prohibitive to repair.”
So-called “PTR” status for the
kindergarten-Grade 3 St. Marys
Central and Grade 4-8 Arthur
Meighen schools was announced by
Perth-Wellington MPP John
Wilkinson on Nov. 23.
Translated, this means the Ministry
has decided it will cost less to build
new accommodations for the
students than it would to maintain the
two facilities in safe, working
conditions over 10 years.
“We didn’t actually apply for PTR
for Central, but the Ministry did the
analysis and decided . . . that the
most cost-effective alternative would
be doing something on the DCVI
property,” explained Avon Maitland
District School Board education
director Geoff Williams, in an
interview earlier this week.
DCVI is the town’s high school,
and Williams says the PTR funding –
about $4.5 million – would cover the
cost of constructing a new school on
adjacent property already owned by
the school board.
Other, potentially more expensive
options could be pursued if the board
made available other funds, either
through sales of the Central and
Arthur Meighen properties, taking
money from other parts of the
board’s annual budget, or the
largesse of the St. Marys community.
“If there were partners in the
community that would like to talk to
us about those opportunities, like the
Town of St. Marys (offering land for
less than the going rate), then we
would certainly be open to that,”
Williams explained. He even
suggested the board would entertain
proposals to build a school adjacent
to the town’s newly-expanded twin-
pad arena and swimming pool.
In any event, he stressed the board
“is still going to consult with the
community.”
To that end, at their regular
meeting Tuesday, Nov. 27, Avon
Maitland trustees approved the
creation of an “ad-hoc Facilities
Advisory Committee for the Town of
St. Marys for the period of December
1, 2007 through January 30, 2008, to
receive input regarding the
replacement facility for the two
elementary schools.”
This committee effectively
replaces an already-operating
Accommodation Review Committee
(ARC) – identical to those currently
meeting in Goderich and Mitchell.
The St. Marys ARC – created
under the auspices of the board’s
Accommodation Review policy – is
no longer in force because the PTR
process makes change a forgone
conclusion.
But the new Advisory Committee
will continue with the same members
and the same meeting schedule,
seeking input into what form the
community would like to see the new
school take.
St. Marys students could move in 2009
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By Stew SlaterSpecial to The Citizen
I had an odd memory come back
to me last week. In my mind’s eye I
was in the old municipal building in
Atwood watching scores of farm
families proofread portions of a 500-
page manuscript I had prepared
about the histories of the farms and
families of Elma Twp. They were
there to read the parts of the draft
that applied to them, and make sure
I had the details right.
And they did. It was a wonderful
afternoon, complete with tea and
Christmas cookies, as the
community members explained to
me how I could make the stories
better, and corrected a few errant
details that were dangerously close
to becoming historical facts.
The situation that sparked the
recollection was a joint meeting of
three newly-established
accommodation review committees.
Accommodation reviews are done
when schools in a community are
flagged as having significant issues
with either their physical plant or
their enrolment, or sometimes both.
A review is required before major
changes can be made, and
accordingly school, community and
municipal representatives from
Goderich, Mitchell and St. Marys
were at the Education Centre to be
briefed on the methodology of the
review.
As they analyzed the process, the
decisions trustees had already made
and the information provided, my
thoughts went back to that day in
Atwood. I remembered how
important the input of others is when
making sure details are right before
moving to the next phase of a
project.
Nevertheless, both situations were
a bit unnerving. Scrutiny is designed
to find errors, and also differences of
opinion, even if it also means a
better final product.
At the end of the review, trustees
will be making a decision based
both on the report that comes from
the community, and an additional
report that staff will make, based on
the community report. The reports
will be framed within the context of
the value of schools to the student,
the school, the system and the
community.
After the reports are submitted
there will be a two-month interval
where delegations can also make
presentations to the board. Then,
armed with all that information, and
with what we trust is the wisdom of
Solomon, trustees will decide on the
future.
In many ways education is always
about the future. As a board we are
accountable to parents, and the
community as well as the provincial
government, not to mention our own
consciences for helping our kids
unlock their potential in order that
they can use that potential for the
rest of their lives.
It’s a daunting mandate, and many
factors play into it, not the last of
which is happening right now as the
future of actual school buildings is
being considered. It’s a heart-
wrenching issue for communities
involved, especially when mixed
with the unknown of how schools
should best be built for upcoming
generations.
The board knows it needs to strive
for understanding as much as we can
about the school communities being
reviewed. Otherwise, like that day in
Atwood, a few errant details could
define the future of these
communities.
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RReevviieeww
Jenny
Versteeg
Chair of the Avon
Maitland District
School Board
WALTON 519-887-8429
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By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen