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School closure guidelines to be released soon
April 3rd, 2005
- Brampton Guardian
School boards waiting for details of the provincial government's new guidelines on school closures are scheduled to receive information this month.
According to a timetable released by the Ministry of Education, school boards should receive final school closure guidelines in late April.
Peel school boards put all closure plans on hold so administrators could review the government's new guidelines and make sure local procedures are aligned.
On Feb. 17 Premier Dalton McGuinty announced new guidelines requiring school boards to consider a school's value to the student, community, school system and local economy before moving ahead with its closure. Also included in the new policy is mandatory one year's community notice before closing a school, several opportunities for community input and appointment of a task force to gather community consensus.
The Catholic school board recently identified three elementary schools for possible closure or consolidation. Among those schools is Brampton's Mother Mary Ward. The board is also discussing the relocation of its all-girls high school in Mississauga.
Last month, the board abruptly put all closure plans on hold and tabled any relocation of the high school indefinitely, pending completion of a review.
The Peel District School Board had already implemented a voluntary moratorium on all school closures and consolidation work.
Catholic school board administrators will be comparing the board's existing guidelines and policy on school closures with new guidelines, said Associate Director Terry Miller. "We don't have the actual document," he said.
Once the final guidelines become available, administrators will have to "measure" the board's existing policy against the new government guidelines to make sure local procedures meet government criteria before moving forward, he said.
Miller said the information received to date speaks about closures of schools with low enrolment, but does not address closures or consolidation required in schools unable to provide programs because of low class sizes.
Regardless, the process should involve much more public input, according to Miller.
As part of the implementation of these new guidelines, the ministry is requiring school boards that did not observe the voluntary moratorium to review closure decisions in light of the new policy.
The government is also conducting an automatic review in instances where school closures have been approved but have not taken place.
Completion of all reviews is expected by the end of early June.
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