Accommodation Review Committees are back ! Two new SCDSB ARC’s have been called to start in the center of the Municipal Elections. As trustee, I will be representing Collingwood & Clearview on both.
Committee discussion was held Sept. 07. Discussion focused on the membership and start dates for first meetings for the two new ARCs; Clearview Elementary* and Barrie Secondary** (Clearview included).
The Clearview Elementary ARC will starting Sept. 23rd. Representation includes parents from each of the schools, along with municipal representative, Thom Patterson. Trustees are members of the ARC based on the catchment area involved. I will be the only trustee on the new Clearview Elementary ARC.
A second ARC has been called for Barrie Secondary schools. The first meeting is set for Sept. 21st. This ARC includes parents and municipal representatives from communities that filter into the Barrie Secondary schools included within the ARC. This includes a student population out of Clearview Twp. There are 7 trustees on this ARC and I am one of them.
As many of you know, Collingwood & Clearview have been in an extensive number of ARC’s and Attendance Area Reviews (AAR) over the past few years; ARC B, ARC E, Essa/New Lowell AAR and Collingwood AAR. We’ve carried what has been the heaviest load of ARC/AAR’s in the board. We haven’t lost one school even as much larger schools in much larger communities have already been closed. That includes Stayner Collegiate Institute (SCI), Connaught P.S. and Duntroon P.S. which were on the potential closure list in 2006 when we started this current Board term. With the call of the two new ARCs, Collingwood and Clearview is the only SCDSB ward that has a trustee on both of the new ARCs.
It strikes me that since we are at a new beginning that it would be valuable to start a running column on ARCs. I am going to begin with definitions and an overview of past ARCs and then follow-up with updates and information as the ARCs roll-out. It will be filed under ‘ARC 101′ and I will set it up as a separate category on the menu bar for easy access.
*The Clearview elementary ARC includes students and communities that attend : Nottawa ES, Duntroon PS, Byng PS, Clearview Meadows ES & Nottawsaga Creemore PS.
** The Barrie Secondary ARC includes students and communities that attend: Barrie Central Collegiate, Barrie North Collegiate, Eastview Secondary School, Bear Creek Secondary School and Innisdale Secondary School.
I can’t believe the SIMCOE COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD ADMINISTRATION would begin an ACCOMMODATION REVIEW COMMITTEE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A MUNICIPAL ELECTION.
If their idea is to do an end run and close schools before the next provincilal election in OCTOBER 2011 FORGET IT. IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. All school closings RURAL and URBAN
will be put on hold until a new policy and proceedure is developed. This will not happen until after OCTOBER 2011.