The board wants to close as many schools as possible and sell off the land. That is its stated grand plan.
To do this they have to follow the province’s public consultation process but this is hardly a true consultation.
Look at the board’s own Accommodation and Program Review report.
First the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) established by the Board has virtually hand picked members. Those members will be given well vetted information by board staff and while other input can come to the ARC from outside, that will be given only cursory attention.
“The superintendent of education shall provide information to the ARC concerning the review process and the ARC’s role. He/she shall articulate the terms of reference, reference criteria, and any program, planning, financial, and policy constraints that may impact the ARC’s recommendations.” (P4)
And in the end, all the input of the ARC can and sometimes is ignored if it happens to go against the board’s grand plan.
“After considering the ARC’s recommendations, staff shall develop its own recommendations and present them in a staff report to the Board.”(P8)
The final decision is, of course, the board’s but, if you listen to most of the trustees, they are dutifully following the grand plan.
So what’s a person to do?
- Hold meetings in the community with no board staff present.
- Get support from other organizations that support keeping community schools open.
- Get as many parents and residents active as possible.
- Hold you Trustee accountable for this destructive direction of the board.
- Make sure that you MPP knows that s/he is next.
- Do not let the board close your school without resistance.
The more we resist, the harder it will be for the Board to carry out its grand plan and the more local community schools will survive to serve children in the future.
I totally agree with these ARC’s being a complete joke, I’m outside of London and the problem with the ARC they just finished is that all the parent group executives got the say. No input with the rest of the parents from the schools. there has got to be a better way to do it than the ARC’s
Keep up the fight. The community can use the ARCs to make their points only if you can get geeo people on the ARCs but the real fight is on the street, in the media and with politicians.