Tuesday, September 1, 2009

London Free Press Story.

Blyth school closing gets second lookBy KELLY PEDRO


A small elementary school in Blyth slated to close may have a second chance.
Following an appeal from parents, the Ministry of Education has appointed a facilitator to examine if the Avon Maitland District school board followed its rules in making the decision to close Blyth public school.

"I think it's a good thing. Maybe it'll add some transparency to the process," said Lisa Bieman, a parent whose child attended the school last year.

"It just seemed that the board had already made its decision early in the year. A lot of the morale of the school dropped."

An accommodation review committee recommended earlier this year that four elementary schools -- Blyth, Turnberry Central, East Wawanosh and Wingham -- close and a new school be built.
Instead, trustees voted to close the four schools by July 2011, move Grade 7 and 8 pupils to F. E. Madill high school in Wingham and house kindergarten to Grade 6 pupils from Wingham, Turnberry, East Wawanosh and some from Blyth in a new $8.8 million school to be built on one of the existing sites.

The rest of the Blyth pupils would go to Hullett Central public school in Londesborough.
The decision prompted an appeal from parents and community members who said the board didn't follow its policies. A ministry spokesperson said a facilitator will be appointed soon and an administrative review will occur this fall. The facilitator will meet with the board, the people who signed the petition and members of the review committee and look at the board's policy.
The facilitator may make recommendations, but has no legislative authority to overturn the board's decision, the spokesperson said.

Bieman said she hopes the board revisits its decision.
"The rural community is a different type of community. We need our in-town school."
Rural schools bring people in the community together and create spinoff jobs, such as corner cafes where some older pupils will go for lunch, Bieman said. "Within smaller communities these schools are so important. When these schools close, it's devastating for the community."

Blyth is a community of about 1,000 about 80 kilometres north of London. Southwest Middlesex Mayor Doug Reycraft, who is also chairperson of the Community Schools Alliance, said the appointment of a facilitator may not change anything. Two communities appealed a Thames Valley District school board decision to close Caradoc South public school in Melbourne and Metcalfe Central public school in Adelaide-Metcalfe, but the facilitator ruled the board followed its policy and the appeals were dismissed. "In the case here and in most cases that I'm aware of, the facilitator has ruled that the board has followed its policy and the appeals have been dismissed," Reycraft said. The alliance was created out of a frustration that the accommodation review committee process is just a formality because boards have already decided the outcomes.
"Our challenge is to convince the Ministry of Education and the premier that there is a great need for change," Reycraft said. Kelly Pedro is The Free Press education reporter. kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca

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