I am totally dismayed that Simcoe County District School Board trustees are still not onside to keep Penetanguishene, Elmvale and Stayner high schools open.
The facts they have been presented with include research that shows smaller schools graduate more students with better marks, and that community-based schools are integral to co-op programs, help to keep youth engaged in their communities, and allow kids to walk to school, which is not only important to their physical health, but the health of our environment.
Oh, and the accommodation review committee struck to recommend the best solution, and which included input from the community, students and others directly related to our children’s education, confirmed the importance of keeping our schools in our local communities.
There was no hard data to support the statement that larger schools are more cost-effective, no data to back up the “expected” costs outlined to retrofit existing schools and, in the staff report recommending the closures, there was frankly no honest emphasis put on the needs and best interests of the students who would be affected.
Why not think locally and act locally? The Town of Midland needs expanded space and has, if I recall correctly, put something like a $2.6-million price tag on new expanded facilities to meet its needs.
Why doesn’t the school board partner with the town to retrofit Midland Secondary School and share the site? There’s lots of parking, students could benefit with opportunities to see their municipal government in action, and this centrally located building would be ideal for joint use.
Meanwhile, Penetanguishene Secondary School, which has just been renovated and is doing a fine job educating students in a warm and nurturing environment, could continue to serve its high school population.
There are lots of solutions that can work and support healthy communities in each area affected that don’t include closing schools, building super-schools and forcing kids out of their communities and onto buses to get an education.
I urge the trustees to consider this, and I commend local trustee Brad Saunders for refusing to back down to the pressure from trustees from other areas of the county who have no vested interest in the students and communities under discussion.
Leslie Gordon
Midland
Midland
