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3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, June 3, 2009 Sorting out school closures in southeast Continued from page 1 The purpose is to clarify what the recommendation is and what it means. "People will read words on a piece of paper and they'll make some assumptions around what the words mean," Joudrie said. "This public meeting will give us an opportunity to explain the intent behind the words and the models, and then if people have questions, we should be able to respond to them." A delegation night is scheduled for Monday, June 15 at the board office in Burlington. The start time has not yet been set, nor has the number of delegations permitted. Those wishing to delegate can contact the director of education's office by calling 905-335-3663. Joudrie said if the delegation night results in changes to the recommendation, the decision date could be pushed past June 17. However, the goal is to have trustees make a final decision before the end of June, he added. "Because it is set for the 17th of June, we have lots of time through the rest of the month of June to make a decision," he said. Joudrie said he could not comment specifically on the reasoning behind his recommendation on Tuesday before it is formally presented to trustees tonight. However, the report has been made public on the school board's website, providing rationale behind the recommendation. It also outlines what will happen to the remaining southeast Oakville elementary schools for September 2010. According to the report, Maple Grove will be a French-immersion, Grade 1-8 and English-track, Grade 7-8 school. It will have a student body of about 585 in 2010. The renovation will include a new double gym and specialty rooms to accommodate intermediate programming. Clearview will be a dual-track, JK-Grade 8 school. It has an enrolment projection of about 430 for its opening in fall 2010. The new school will have a capacity of 500 students. The school board will soon be releasing the plans for the proposed new school boundaries. Joudrie told the Beaver on Tuesday that students living south of Cornwall Road will not be bused north to Clearview in this recommendation. Chisholm and New Central are both slated to be English-track, JK-Grade 6 schools. They will have student bodies of approximately 338 and 300 students, respectively, in September 2010. Chisholm and New Central will receive additions and renovations to accommodate 350 students. Although they will not be the board's ideal school size of 450, these student bodies will result in about 1.5 classes per grade. Joudrie said the smaller schools will offer the same quality of education as the larger schools. "The quality of the teaching and the leadership in the school are the two most critical elements," he said. "The third hybrid doesn't give you two classes per grade (in Chisholm and New Central), but it does give you 1.5, which still provides flexibility in terms of programming." Miller added that all southeast Oakville children at public schools will receive the best possible education. "We're confident that kids will be delivered a very good program and it will Wayne Joudrie be equitable across the ward," he said. The recommended plan would create a positive cash flow of $3.8 million for the board, according to the report. There would also be a decrease in the number of students bused. Currently, there are 858 students being bused in southeast Oakville. This is approximately 53 per cent of the students in the ward. This recommendation would mean there are 567 students who will be bused, or approximately 36 per cent of the students in southeast Oakville. The latest recommendation is the result of a community consultation process that started in February. Among the various steps in this process were a public meeting, a survey and focus groups. There were 1,144 surveys completed and returned to the board. The community was able to indicate which of the six original options they supported, could live with or could not support. There was also space to suggest alternate options. There were 165 people who participated in five focus groups. Miller said he is satisfied with the amount of participation from the community. "We are pleased with the participation rate," he said. "We had almost 1,200 surveys come in, which is pretty good.... We're also pleased that in the focus groups, there was representation from the different areas of the ward, as well." It has been a long process for residents of southeast Oakville and the school board. The board initially voted on July 2, 2008 to close Brantwood, Linbrook, Chisholm and New Central public schools and build a school in Clearview. The two remaining southeast Oakville schools, E. J. James and Maple Grove, were to be renovated. That decision was not the preferred option put forward by the Program and Accommodation Review Committee, labelled PARC 14. A petition led to the Ministry of Education appointing David Cooke, former Ontario minister of education, to review the board's decision. Cooke's report recommended that the board reconsider its July decision. "People will read words on a piece of paper and they'll make some assumptions around what the words mean. This public meeting will give us an opportunity to explain the intent behind the words and the models, and then if people have questions, we should be able to respond to them." Wayne Joudrie, education director The board agreed to revisit the issue, developing and executing a community consultation process, which wrapped up in May. Joudrie set a budget of $50,000 for the consultation process. He said it cost less than that. "We were well under budget," he said Tuesday. "The grand total was under $30,000." 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