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Published - Oct 28th, 2009
By Scott Nixon
EXETER — Two of the five southern Huron schools being reviewed this year by the Avon Maitland District School Board could end up closing.
As previously reported, the school board, facing declining enrolment and funding issues, has decided to study five local schools for possible closure — Exeter Public, Usborne Central, Stephen Central, Hensall Public and Zurich Public.
At an information meeting Oct. 21 at Exeter Public, board staff presented its preferred option for dealing with the board's problem of excess pupil spaces.
Staff's preferred options are:
• sending all Grade 7/8 students from the five schools to South Huron District High School (SHDHS) starting in the 2012-13 school year;
• closing Usborne Central and moving the Kindergarten to Grade 6 students to Exeter Public School;
• either close Zurich Public and divide those students between Hensall and Stephen, or close Hensall and move the special needs students and some Kindergarten to Grade 6 students to Exeter Public, with the balance of the Kindergarten to Grade 6 students going to Zurich Public.
Education superintendent Mike Ash said these options are not engraved in stone and are a starting point for discussion.
“It's not a done deal,” he said, but added the board has to give the best programs to students and consolidate to provide for things such as specialty teaching.
He said there is the potential of some savings of staffing costs with school closures, but hopes retirements and transfers will absorb potential staff losses.
An Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) has been formed which will meet throughout the year to eventually present a report and recommendations to board trustees, who will eventually make a decision on the fate of the schools sometime in late May or early June.
Each involved school has voting members on the ARC. South Huron Deputy Mayor George Robertson and Bluewater Coun. Tyler Hessel also sit on the ARC. Local trustee Randy Wagler will sit on the ARC as a non-voting member and will provide information and make sure opinions from the ARC are relayed back to the board.
Director of education Chuck Reid said one of the biggest decisions a school board can make is how to best accommodate its students while being fiscally responsible.
There are about 400 excess pupil spaces in the five schools involved in the study. Reid said that while the school board has to pay for heat and hydro for those 400 spaces, they don't receive funding for them. And while he said SHDHS is not now at risk of closure, it does have excess space that needs to be filled.
School board chairperson Jenny Versteeg said, “Our schools need to adapt to changing communities,” and added the board is focused on providing the best education possible.
Ash laid out the roles of the ARC. Among them are: to complete a school profile for each school; complete an accommodation report; make a recommendation to the board of trustees; public information and access; community consultation and public meetings; and indicate the value of each school to the students, board, community and local economy.
Ash also encouraged ARC members to have ideas.
Only about 25 people attended last week's meeting, and public questions and comments were few. Referring to the potential closure of Zurich Public, Hubert Thiel asked if the board knew how many Zurich Public students would leave the Avon Maitland system if that school closes and simply move across town to St. Boniface Catholic School.
Ash said that is something the board needs to be aware of.
The ARC's next meeting will be held at Zurich Public School Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. Future meetings are scheduled for Dec. 10 at Usborne Central, Jan. 14 at Stephen Central, Feb. 4 at Exeter Public and Feb. 25 at Hensall Public.
All meetings are open to the public.
Meeting agendas, minutes and documents will be available on the board's website, www.yourschools.ca
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