Another Post From facebook.

(Taken directly from facebook, again ARC, if you feel this is not apropos, please let me know and I will remove the post).



I figured I would try to address some of the questions/concerns that were expressed at last night's ARC meeting.First of all, let me state how happy I was that we finally were able to engage the public. It is good to know that the community does care about education.As for some of the questions...here goes....One theme that kept coming up was the concern over behavioural issues...the concern that kids with behavioural issues would be lost in the crowd. I would expect that each of the four schools has a very small number of students that have behavioural problems. These are currently being dealt with by the regular teachers and principles. With combining the four schools, there may be sufficient need to have a teacher that specializes in dealing with these students. I have a friend in Mississauga that is exactly that at her school....she assists those students that are academically ok but socially have issues. So in the end my belief is that having the larger enrollement would actually help those students.This bringis me to a similar point, and that is students with learning difficulties. We have all heard of the example of our speech Patholigist. I spoke to a parent today that has a son who benefits from the use of a speech patholigist. Unfortunately they are lucky to see one through the school once a month. This parent pays a private speech patholigist $95 an hour to make up the other times that their child should be seen. By bringing the four schools together, there would be less time for the Speech Patholigist to be driving from school to school, etc. Again, greater population, greater access to specialized resources.The issue of bussing was raised last night. There are rules when it comes to the iissue of length of bus ride...and those rules will continue to be followed. The kids must not be any longer then 1 hour on the bus to get to school. In terms of safety...report afer report concludes that busses are extremely safe. In terms of costs, yes there will be increased costs, but there will be some savings as well. Students will not have to be bussed to outside programs such as the gifted student program. The increased student population will warrant that program being taught in the new school.In terms of size....a school of 750 to 900 students is not a huge school. It would probably classify as an average (or slightly over average) size when compared to the rest of the province. In addition, one must remember that the individual class rooms will stay the same. Classroom size is mandated by the province. As for the comments that the students or parents would not know anyone....again, this is entirely incorrect. Even before this process, I along with my children knew families from Wingham, Blyth, Turnberry. My kids play hockey in wingham, will be playing soccer in Blyth. The issue around asking for a school that is second to none. Well on that topic, I personally believe nothing is too good when it comes to my childs education. Now that being said, yes I realize there are realities when it comes to the fiscal side of the equation. However, it may surprise us how much we would be able to achieve if we ask.That brings us the the issue of funding. I am very confident that if the community as a whole supports this proposal, the funding will be there. The province has been very clear, the almagamation of schools is a preferred option. They are funding the almagamation of 2 and 3 schools currently...so with a proposal of 4 schools coming together, I am confident that it will be looked upon favourably. However the province won't be able to pick up the entire bill...but the school board needs to remember that they will be getting considerable savings from the closure of the 4 aging schools and hence need to be at the table. And there will be opportunities for other funding partners as well. With making the school a "Green Initiative" the federal government should be at the table. I believe that there is a reason for the local governments to be at the table as well, due to the fact that it will be community benefit to the facility, and not just for the students. And lastly, there will be private dollars as well. If the local community is firmly behind the proposal, then private industry will want to help out, becasue it demonstrates their good corporate citizenship.In terms of the 7 and 8's going into the high school, I sense an overwhelming opposition to that scenario. I along with the other members of the ARC share in that view. Hence the reason that we are doing our best to come up with a united effort to offer something to the Board so the high school option does not happen.Now lastly, I would like to comment on the wish by many to keep things the way they are. It has been made extremely clear to the members of the ARC that this is not an option. School or schools are going to be closing. It is an extremely painful process to go through a school closure. My belief is, if we know that at least one, and very likely 2 are closing, why don't we actually try and gain some benefit out of that painful decision. No one wants to see their school close....as they are all fantastic schools. However, if reality dictates that they are going to close, well lets try and get something positive out of the process. Let try and get a modern, safe, environmentally friendly school....the North Maitland Educational Centre of Excellence.