Decision Day: HDSB Decision TODAY
School Board to decide fate of 6 elementary schools in
South East Oakville TODAY!
Wednesday June 17th, 2009 @ 7:00pm
2050 Guelph Line, Burlington
Your opinion matters, please email the Trustees, MPP Kevin Flynn and the Minister of Education. (Click through options are available at
If you can't attend, follow the decision on Twitter. ORPE will be tweeting live from the school board meeting, providing updates on the website. To follow the tweet, please register / sign-in to myoakville.org. You must log-in then a Twitter Updates will appear above the Weather icon. Simply click refresh for the latest updates.
On Monday, June 15, 2009, 42 groups and individuals presented delegations to Trustees of the Halton District School Board on the Admin. Council's report, 09109 before a standing room only crowd of over 100 people.
Twenty-three groups spoke in favour of the staff recommendation to close 3 schools and retain 3 schools in SE Oakville on Monday. These groups together represented almost 18,000 residents. These groups representing almost 18,000 residents, included: Oakville Residents for Public Education, Executive of Linbrook Parents Council, Oakville Lakeside Residents Association, EJ James Parent Council, Executive of Linbrook Parents Council, Chartwell-Maple Grove Residents Association, Brantwood School Council, Trafalgar Chartwell Residents Association, Chisolm School Council, Joshua Creek Residents Association, and New Central School Council
Many speakers spoke of supporting the recommendation on the cornerstone of the Cooke's report statement that public education is a partnership between parents, community and school board. It was every group's hope that a positive decision will move the board and community forward and build upon the outstanding educational results already demonstrated in our community.
Approximately, 13 delegations from Clearview & COCA opposed the recommendation, requesting either a return to the July 2nd decision or the elimination of single track French Immersion programming in SE Oakville to allow for 137 French Immersion students to be bussed to Clearview
It is an interesting position from a community that is directly benefiting from the construction of a brand new school, which is a cash-flow positive option only because the Board will close at least three schools south of
Five or six individuals spoke from the Maple Grove community, advocating for the Hybrid 3B option, partially on the research discounted by the report on transitions, and partially on a false claim that students would otherwise have to attend "old run down schools". This option is also problematic as the school in the West (New Central) will not be sustainable in the long term, thus returning us to another PARC or a 2 school model rejected by the community and Facilitator David Cooke.
It is time for our community to rally behind the decision and further the educational excellence in our community. As David Cooke stated,
An alternative to continued division and conflict would be in the best interest of the students.
I encourage the Board, the Petitioners and the Clearview community to step back and consider what could be done to lead to a consensus for both Clearview and SE Oakville. This consensus must put the interest of students first.
The Clearview community should accept their new school and find a solution within Clearview. A Clearview school satisfies the many years of requests from Clearview for a Clearview school for their community. Let's not compound one Board failure with another by reverse busing. Another delegate suggested, the Board should build a 350 student school that would accommodate the English track students in Clearview and continue to bus the 90 French Immersion students to the centrally located French Immersion school in Ward 3.
One delegation from the Milton area challenged the Board's recommendation on the basis of financial gain to the Board for building in other areas of Halton. They suggested the Board would be better served, with one of the original options that could be up to 10 million dollars cash positive. If it was strictly a dollars and cents issue, there would be no reason to build a new school in Clearview at all. We call on our Trustee to ensure that the proceeds of disposition are used to improve education and facilities for students in Ward 3.
This current report's recommendation, while imperfect, is the best opportunity to satisfy the majority of stakeholders -- there is no solution that will satisfy 100% of the stakeholders. However, the Board has determined it is educationally sound, financially responsible and has the support of the majority of the community. It fits the blueprint of the Cooke report.
