 By James Burchill
November 20th, 2016
BURLINGTON. ON
In 1860, due to continued pressure from the various employers, the government developed the first education system: to create literate employees.
The employers of the time were finding it progressively harder to find employees who could read and write.
So bowing to capitalistic pressures the government created a system of public education with the sole intent of creating “literate employees”. Like the modern army where we train people to become soldiers, the education system was created to create “factory workers”.
This was 155 years ago and nothing much has changed since. In fact the education system is still producing “literate employees” – not free thinking, creative types, but human ‘worker bees’ or drones.
The education system instigated testing to measure advancement and learning but now the testing is often more important than the skills they try and train. In fact, most students only focus on how to “ace the tests”. What good is that?
After school the students go on to “higher education” – there is another oxymoron as research shows only a few post graduate students actually end up using their degrees in their careers.
Why spend all that time, energy and money only to not use the degree?
 It’s a job! When asked why they went to University, or why they got a degree the student answers were frighteningly similar – “to get a job”.
We have created a system were the apparent need to get a job is so great that people will spend about four years and $50,000 on a degree for the sole purpose of ignoring it later and using it to apply for jobs!
In conclusion, we create “literate employees” who now feel so compelled and “must” get a degree to apply for a job (which we all now know has no security anyway) to enter a social and economic environment where they are ill equipped to handle the majority of ‘free-agent’ type thinking (remember this creativity was eroded during school years during the mania with testing and NOT creativity) and did I mention that the cost of this education was over $50,000 (I can’t bear to add in the time before University and the lost opportunity costs.)
My point? Simple, if you have children remember this about the system, firstly it is a system and it is antiquated and there solely for the purpose of creating ‘literate employees’. Know that there is no law (at least here in Canada) that says your children MUST go to school – you can home school.
That the training they are receiving is not going to be very helpful in years to come as the work place is becoming more fragmented and a free-for-all-free-agent place (remember school does not train and create entrepreneurs only ‘workers’) and finally that you and I came from this same training and we need to remember what we most likely think about or world is probably wrong.
How we perceive our environment is a function of how we think about it, and how we think about our environment was ‘trained’ into us by the early educators we were exposed to (school, the place where ‘literate employers are created)
 James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that meets regularly in Burlington to allow networking and relationship building. He also writes and trains people about how to make technology work for them.
 By Pepper Parr
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The closing of a high school is significant and disruptive.
The Director of Education wants to give the public every opportunity to be informed and ask questions.
Burlington has seven high schools where there are 1800+ empty seats – and that isn’t, as Director of Education Stuart Miller points out is not sustainable.
To add to the situation – Burlington has a high school that is at 115% of capacity and has had to add portables – for a school that was opened three years ago.
 Director of Education Stuart Miller preparing to talk to Central high school parents. The high school capacity in Burlington is south of the QEW – the population is north of that line.
Something had to be done to fix this imbalance. The Board of Education staff put forward a recommendation – one of 19 different possible recommendations to close Central and Pearson high schools.
While not required to get out into the community and explain the full story – some school boards pass the task along to the trustees and let them deal with the mess – Miller decided to hold at meeting at every high school and pass along to them the information he has.
 One of the five people in the picture is the high school principal. Parent participation was dismal. Some of those meetings were very well attended – others, sparse would be being polite. The parents just didn’t show up at Bateman high school which is a school that is very much at risk. That it wasn’t the staff recommendation doesn’t save Bateman. It is the trustees that will make the decision and there were 19 recommendations – and Bateman has a low and falling registration.
 Amy Collard, school board trustee for the ward Bateman high school is in attended the sparsely attended meeting. With Nelson high school just a couple of km away – Bateman parents want to listen up – carefully.
Miller has decided to go one step further and hold an on line Q&A on Monday, November 21st between 7:00 and 8:30 pm
 By Pepper Parr
November 17th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Halton District School Board Director of Education Stuart Miller made two comments at the regular board meeting last night that deserve a closer look.
He commented on a report that school bus drivers were having problems with cars that did not obey the rule that they must stop behind or in front of the bus while students are embarking and disembarking.
 Hard to miss the intent of this sign – some car drivers are not getting the message. Each bus has a small barrier that is lowered when a bus has stopped – close to impossible to miss that signal. Why would a car driver choose to take a chance and drive around the bus?
The Gazette will be following up on that problem.
The other item in the Director’s report was equally disturbing.
The Board is about to launch the PARC (Program Accommodation Review Committee) that will review the staff report that recommended closing both the Lester B Pearson and Central high schools.
Miller has pointed out every time he discusses this process that the recommendation is just that “a recommendation. There are other high schools that could be closed instead of Pearson or Central. The decision as to which school should be closed is one that will be made by the trustees once the PARC has delivered its report.
Every high school in the city gets to have a person on the PARC – there is apparently one high school that has not yet provided its nominee to the committee.
This is serious stuff for a community whose high school is at risk.
The PARC will hold its first meeting December 1st – that meeting, and only that meeting will be closed to the public. The justification is that the committee will need some time to work out the rules and norms that will apply and have an opportunity for the 20+ people on the committee to get to know each other. Every high school in Burlington has two representatives on the PARC.
The full committee will consist of:
Trustee from outside Burlington
Superintendent from outside Burlington
Principal or designate from each affected high school
Two parents/guardians from each affected high school
The Board is waiting for all the applications from people who have expressed an interest in serving on the committee. Friday November 18th is the closing day for those expression of interest applications. It is going to prove to be a big job – not for the faint of heart.
 Not exactly a large crowd is it? Bateman high school parents apparently missed the message.  The Central high school parents understand the issue – they are very well organized. Miller advised the Board that he and staff have attended information meetings at every high school and “given them the information we have”. Some of those meetings were very poorly attended.
There is going to be one additional meeting that will be done via the internet – Stuart and staff members will take questions electronically and answer on a live streaming board web cast November 21st at 7:00 pm.
 Scott Podrebarac Superintendent of Education Scott Podrebarac will chair the PARC.
 By Staff
November 16th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Now here is a volunteer opportunity for a retired bean counter.
The Halton District School Board is seeking a community member with financial expertise and business knowledge to serve on its audit committee for a three year term ending December 2019.
 A retired bean counter at work – wants to know where the money went. The audit committee is comprised of three trustees and two independent members drawn from the community at large. The Committee meets at least three times a year, plus ad hoc meetings as required, including day time meetings.
The primary role of the audit committee is to assist the Board of Trustees in fulfilling its duties related to governance and oversight. The duties of the audit committee fall under the following key areas: the financial reporting process, internal control framework, risk management practices, performance and function of the board’s internal and external auditors and the Board’s compliance with its obligations under legislation. Candidate eligibility includes:
Applicants must have sufficient accounting, senior financial management or other relevant business experience to understand public sector accounting and auditing standards.
The applicant must not be a current employee or Officer of the Board or of any other district school board or school authority.
The applicant must not have a parent, child or spouse currently employed by the Board.
Candidates must submit a letter of interest and resume by 4 p.m. on Friday, December 23, 2016 to:
Lucy Veerman, Superintendent of Business Services & Treasurer, Halton District School Board
PO Box 5005 STN LCD 1, Burlington, ON, Canada, L7R 3Z2
Candidates who are short-listed will be requested to attend an interview conducted by the Audit Committee’s selection committee.
 By Staff
November 15th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Learning Foundation (HLF) held their Benefit Bash last week and gratefully accepted a donation of $10,000 from Siemens Canada in support of students of the Halton District School Board.
The donation kicks off HLF’s “No Student Left Behind” holiday appeal which is raising funds to ensure the estimated 10% of students of the Halton District School Board who live at or below the poverty line can access emergency funding or student subsidies to help them stay in school and focused on learning.
 Ann-Marie Koumettou, Sr. Communications Consultant, Siemens Canada; Lesley Mansfield, Executive Director, Halton Learning Foundation; Ann Adair, VP, Communications and Strategy, Siemens Canada; David Grant, Board Chair, Halton Learning Foundation. A key component of the No Student Left Behind appeal is a gift catalogue that enables people to purchase gifts that students need, such as warm winter coats and boots, athletic equipment, healthy snacks and lunches, or fees to participate in field trips.
“If you’re searching for a holiday gift for your child’s favourite teacher, or that hard‐to‐buy for relative, consider giving a No Student Left Behind gift,” says Lesley Mansfield, Executive Director of the Halton Learning Foundation.
“For a society to grow and be sustainable we need to ensure children have a strong educational base,” said Robert Hardt, President & CEO, Siemens Canada. “I personally believe it is the duty of the private sector to add value to society by, among other things, supporting educational goals.”
This is the second year in a row that Siemens worked with HLF to ensure that no student in our community misses out on their education because they don’t have the money to fully participate in school,” Mansfield said.
 Olympian Mark Oldershaw An avid supporter of Halton Learning Foundation, in addition to supporting No Student Left Behind, Siemens Canada also provides mentoring for Halton District School Board high school students, field trips to Siemens facilities and donations of funds towards STEM programming at Halton schools.
Olympian Mark Oldershaw –sponsored by RBC — spoke about the importance of mental wellness to an athlete.
 By Pepper Parr
November 11th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
This story took place in Milton but it is relevant to Burlington – what do we do in the event of an emergency?
Who takes the lead and what does each different part of the civic administration do? And where does the public fit into all this?
In 2014 when Burlington experienced an unprecedented flood there were people who were up to their knees in water and people a couple of streets away who were grilling burgers totally unaware that there was a major catastrophe taking place.
 The 2014 flood saw 199 mm of water dumped on part of the city over a four hour period – but it was so local that many people were not aware of what had happened until it was over. The different public services were not immediately fully aware as to just how bad the situation was. At the time every senior civic official save one was out of town.
The flooding was so local that few people knew what was going on.
In an effort to be better prepared the Region took on the task of doing annual exercises to practice what might happen and how the municipality would respond.
 Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr and Halton CAO Jane MacCaskill review the tornado’s path. On November 9, 2016, Halton Region and the Town of Milton staged a joint emergency exercise to evaluate their respective emergency response plans. The exercise included response and recovery activities related to a fictional tornado that damaged homes, businesses and community infrastructure in Milton.
 Halton Region Paramedic Services Superintendent Tom Stirling oversees EMS support for affected residents. “Testing our emergency preparedness strategies helps ensure that we are ready to respond,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “We work with local partners to minimize the risks, coordinate response efforts and reduce the impact of emergency situations. By training, rehearsing and preparing together, we improve our ability to keep residents safe and increase the resilience of our entire community.”
The exercise engaged Town and Regional staff, as well as representatives from the Halton Regional Police Service, Halton Paramedic Services, Burlington Fire Department and Milton Fire Department. This collaboration provided a realistic image of how community agencies would work together in the event of a real emergency.
“We know the potential for weather-related emergencies is very real and it is important that we come together with local partners to practice our response,” said Milton Mayor Gord Krantz. “This emergency exercise serves as a reminder that we all need to be prepared for the unexpected.”
 Town of Milton CAO Bill Mann and Fire Chief Brian Ellsworth assess the tornado’s impact. Exercise “Vortex” activated a wide range of resources and procedures established by the Region and Town to address emergency situations. Participants coordinated search and rescue, evacuation, temporary shelter and service restoration, directing simulated response workers to support residents affected by the tornado. Staff from all agencies identified strengths, challenges and areas for improvement immediately following the simulation.
Halton’s annual exercises simulate severe weather events and significant crises that could occur based on the community’s environmental features and hazards. Emergencies can happen anytime, and emergency preparedness is a joint responsibility—the Region reminds residents to plan today so they are protected tomorrow.
What the really disturbs the Gazette is that, to the best of our knowledge there was no media involved in this exercise.
 By Pepper Parr
November 7th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Dania Thurman made her first delegation to city council yesterday. It was not that pleasant an experience for her – even though she gave a strong, informed presentation.
Council didn’t ask her a single question about what is perhaps one of the most important issues about the kind of downtown the city is going to have in the future.
Thurman argued that closing the Central High school would damage the downtown core community.
 Dania Thurman – vice chair of the Central High School parent group. Thurman is the Vice-Chair of the parent group opposing the closing of the high school. She was delegating along with another parents the same time that Halton District School Board, Director of Education Stuart Miller was explaining to council the why behind why high schools had to be closed.
 The T-shirt tells it all – for the parents – it is about the community. Central Strong, the working name of the parent committee, was formed to organize and inform the downtown core residents, parents, alumni and business owners who will be impacted by the Halton District School Board’s proposal to close Burlington Central High School explained Thurman.
They have 2000 people a week going to their Facebook page and the 500 lawn sighs printed have been snapped up
Thurman said: “Burlington Central High School is the heart and soul of our downtown community and generations of students have attended and excelled there. Our Central Strong team is committed to keeping our school open so the students can benefit from the true community spirit of our school. This includes everything from dedicated staff (many of whom are also alumni), unique programs (like robotics, theatre and theatre tech), and the joy of walking or biking to school every day (which has also been proven to increase student focus and overall success).
“We truly hope that the recommendation to close the Central and Pearson schools is indeed only a starting point for discussion as was indicated by the Director of Education and the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
 Central High school corridor – the place reeks of local history. “Our group’s mission is to provide as much accurate information as we can to aid in finding alternative solutions. Our opinion is that Burlington Central is not the right choice to close and we will work as a community to find creative alternatives to the issues the board may face that don’t involve the closure of Burlington Central High School. We believe that alternatives exist and would be healthier for the students, families and the community than a school closure.
“In addition to this, the Central Strong Community group has officially aligned itself with the growing uproar from the Ontario Alliance Against School Closures, who are calling on the government for an immediate moratorium on school closures. The Ontario Alliance Against School Closures represents 27 school groups across the province. It also has the support of “The Community Schools Alliance” which represents 33 municipalities and approximately 350,000 residents.
Thurman argues that the Ministry’s Pupil Accommodation Review Guideline, as it is currently written, is both damaging and undemocratic. It fails to take into consideration, the value of a school to its community, municipality and local economy. Close to the entire student population at Burlington central can currently walk to school. The physical and mental health of our students impacted by these closures and consolidations is completely disregarded. The municipality should also be concerned as this will ultimately result in increased busing.
“Our environment and an already congested infrastructure will only further deteriorate. You should also be deeply concerned about the narrow vision of the Pupil Accommodation Review process and how it will affect our city and Burlington’s Strategic Plan.”
Thurman was direct, brought up strong arguments but didn’t get a single question from city council.
Michael Kukhta, also a member of the parent group delegated. He was asked a lot of questions which we will cover in a seperate story.
By Staff
November 5th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It is the best show in town for the political junkies – and it seems that tens of thousands of Canadians are fixated on what our southern neighbours are putting themselves through.
 A graph that updates almost every 10 minutes. One of the best data site on the American election. There is a web site that provides exceptionally current data.
Link to the site:
www.fivethirtyeight.com/
By Gareth Williams
November 4th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
What is the value of convenience? Is it worth sacrificing some of our democratic institutions, like the secret ballot and the knowledge that our election results accurately reflect the intent of voters?
This Monday Burlington City Council (sitting as the Community & Corporate Services) will consider a staff report which recommends Burlington continue its experiment with remote Internet voting. I call it an experiment because Internet voters made up a relatively small overall percentage of ballots cast in the 2010 & 2014 elections in which it was offered.
I do not believe that as a City we should continue to embrace this flawed method of electing our leaders, and I believe most citizens would agree if they better understood the significant challenges involved.
Here is a brief summary of the issues with online/Internet voting:
 This is a secret ballot • Internet voting eliminates the protection of the secret ballot and could enable coercion of voters by family members and others. With the large population of seniors in Burlington, and the very real issue of elder abuse this is a significant concern. At the public polling station election staff are there to ensure you can vote in privacy, free from interference; at home or work just about anyone can be standing behind you as you cast your ballot.
• It also facilitates vote buying and/or individuals casting ballots on behalf of others, with or without their knowledge. This has already happened back in 2010 when an Eastern Ontario man was charged and fined with voting on behalf of his family members. It is probably safe to assume there have been other cases (perhaps even here in Burlington) which went unnoticed as it is not uncommon for several family members to share a computer or Internet connection. A mother or father might, for example, decide to vote on behalf of their kids who are away at University or College.
• Evidence indicates that Internet voting does not increase turnout, even among youth. The most recent example of this is Halifax’s 2016 municipal election where the number of online voters dropped by over 10,000. Leading researchers in the field have analyzed 15 years of data and concluded that Internet voting is unlikely to solve the low turnout crisis faced by Western democracies. Perhaps surprisingly, they also found Ontario voters age 18-34 were more likely to prefer paper ballots.
 The level of sophistication the ID thieves have is close to beyond belief – if they want the information – they can get it. • Most computer security experts warn that Internet voting is not secure. A large number of multinational firms as well as Canadian government departments have been successfully cyberattacked in recent years. There have been many stories in the news recently of high profile attacks like the ones that affected the Ontario EQAO exam and attempts to influence the US election through the release of emails obtained through hacking or phishing attempts. Third party IT security consultants hired by the City of Toronto to study proposals for Internet voting in that city recommended against moving forward with any of the options.
Many other jurisdictions that considered or experimented with online voting have dropped support for Internet voting. These include Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, and Huntsville Ontario, the provinces B.C. & Alberta as well as the country of Norway.
A City of Kitchener 2012 staff report was the impetus for that city rejecting Internet voting; it recommended strongly against implementation for their 2014 election. Most of the aforementioned issues were cited. According to this report and other academic studies the highest user of Internet voting is the 45-55 demographic and the vast majority of Internet voters would likely have voted anyway.
Problems with Internet voting were in the news again as recently as this past week in P.E.I. where they are using it for a non-binding plebiscite on electoral reform. An unknown number of voter information packages with personal identification numbers (PINs) were sent to the wrong addresses. These codes could potentially be used to cast a ballot on behalf of another voter. If the vote is cast from a public location like a library, there would be little that could be done to track down the offender.
Many advocates point to the opportunity Internet voting provides to make it easier for disabled voters to cast their ballot. However, as Dr. Barbara Simons a former researcher with IBM pointed it out during her recent testimony to the Electoral Reform panel in Ottawa, it does a disservice to voters with disabilities, to anybody, to provide them with a tool that is fundamentally insecure. We owe it to them when we provide them with alternatives to make sure those alternatives are secure.
Despite the issues we continue to hear that, based on opinion polls, there is a demand and support from the public for Internet voting. To quote Dr. Simons again, if this were a medical hearing to determine whether to approve a new drug for human consumption, safety would be paramount. A drug that is likely to result in serious injury to patients would be rejected, no matter how many people wanted to use it. Internet voting is like a drug we are considering for our democracy.
If this scares you as much as it scares me be sure to contact your Councillor before Monday.
 Gareth Williams is a graduate of the Political Science program at McMaster University. He works in Information Technology in Hamilton with 18 years in the field. Gareth lives in Brant Hills with his wife and their dog Misty.’
By Pepper Parr
November 3rd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The first two of seven meetings that will take place at each of the high schools in the city were held at Bateman and Nelson.
The Director of Education, Stuart Miller and a number of his staff gave an hour long presentation to six people at the Robert Bateman high school, zipped up their briefcases where they did the presentation a second time to 12 people at Nelson high school.
These meetings were not a required part of the Program Accommodation Review the Board of Education is going through. “It is not an easy time” said Miller
 Joey Edwardth, President of Community Development Halton with Director of Education Stuart Miller – she has the data he needs. Director Miller and the General manager of the Board shared the delivery of the presentation – they were laying out the facts as they understood them.
And the facts are critical.
There are far too many seats in high school classroom that are empty and that just isn’t sustainable.
Miller said the city has one and a half too many high schools – and to make matters worse the capacity the board has it at times in the wrong place.
Unfortunately the Board has known about this for some time. This problem first appeared on their radar screens back in 2013
 The city of Burlington doesn’t have a demographer on staff and apparently the Board of Education doesn’t have any of that capacity as well. Community Development Halton (CDH) has a solid team that has the data at its finger tips – but the city and the board don’t seem to know what CDH can do for them. If the problem of falling enrollment was identified in 2012 – it was in the data long before then. Of more interest to parents is the depth of the problem. Except for Hayden and Nelson high school there is not a high school in the city that is not at some risk.
Set out below is the critical data for every high school – the numbers are not nice and they certainly are not comfortable.
At the first meeting of the Board and the parents at Bateman there were six parents. Bateman is at rick – look at the numbers.
The doted line is the On the Ground capacity of the school.
The critical number is 65% of that OTG. When a school falls below that the Board of education is required to do a Program Accommodation Review.
Each year the Board does an LTAP – Long Term Accommodation study – the quality of those studies may not have been as good as they should have been.
 Central has a problem but it is not as bad as Bateman.  How did the demographers miss this one? Add to the problem is the development of a housing project in the north east quadrant of the city.  The sense seems to be that closing Pearson and sending them to Robinson will solve the Robinson problem.  At some point in time the Eaglesfield project will get developed – it looks like that is going to be a family community – will children attend Aldershot?  Bateman would appear to be more at risk than Central.
 By Pepper Parr
November 3rd 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The closing of a school is no small matter – and when it happens there is disruption at many levels – especially for the parents who have children in one of the schools that was recommended for closure.
In the Program Accommodation Review the Halton district School Board is undergoing, the Director of Education put a recommendation before the trustees that two specific schools be closed. Central and Pearson.
There are parents who wish the Director had not done so.
 Blue indicates a small school; green indicates a large school. Lynne Crosby, a parent with children at Central high school said yesterday that “They did NOT have to make a recommendation that named two schools. This shows a complete disregard for the students and staff at those two schools, plus the students in grade 7/8 and the feeder schools. The high school students at these schools have been greatly negatively affected, and in many cases their school year is tainted if not ruined.
They (the Board of Education) could have chosen option 7 which is to close no schools to begin the PAR. Or they could have made an Option 20 to close one school or two schools, particular ones to be determined through the process, and not naming specific ones.
Crosby is bothered by the rule that does not allow any questions during the presentations that are being made to each high school. “We can’t ask him this question because they don’t allow questions. What a farce. I doubt they are taking questions from the media either, but this is a point that should be raised, since they keep giving us this line about how they had no choice.”
“One thing that really bothers me” said Crosby, “is them saying how they had to make a recommendation, as if their hands were tied by the Ministry rules. All the board had to do was ask the trustees to decide if they wanted to do a Program Accommodation Review to begin the process.
The Board did produce a report that had a recommendation – which is all it is at this point in time.
 Doesn’t take a rocket scientists to figure out that there is a problem. The enrollment numbers to show that there are far too many seats in the high schools that have not been filled.
There was an error in the report on the delegation the Director of education is making to city council
The Stuart Miller delegation will be to the Corporate and Community Services Standing Committee were he will have ten minutes to tell his side of the story.
The corrected story is at:
This guy is going to get more than the standard ten minutes to delegate before a city Standing Committee.
By Pepper Parr
November 3rd, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
School Board Director of Education Stuart Miller isn’t getting home for dinner very often this month.
 He is committed to being in front of high school parents and has added to that the desire to delegate before the Community and Corporate Services Standing Committee at council next Monday where he will delegate on the Halton District School Board’s Secondary School Program and Review (PAR) Process.
The delegation will outline the process for a program and accommodation review, including timelines and consultation.
 While the school board and city play the biggest roles in the daily life of citizens in the city (well maybe waste removal – a Regional responsibility – fits in there somewhere) the city and the school board rarely meet in any formal fashion.
They are their own fiefdoms.
The school board is shaking up every household in the city with their requirement to go to the parents and talk about closing high schools.
The city gets this kind of feedback when it want to close an arena or a swimming pool – so they both have experience dealing with the public.
The public would say that neither are very good at communicating. For the record the school board is putting itself in front of people.
At city Standing Committee meetings delegations are limited to ten minutes – watch how quickly that gets waived.
The Board of Education isn’t allowing Q&A at its meetings with parents – but at city council meetings Councillors can ask questions. Parents might want to lobby their member of council to get some answers.
The biggest issue we hear from parents is that the school board doesn’t appear to be thinking in terms of “community” – focusing instead on what they can do for the students. Parents want to think in terms of how community can be retained.
 By Pepper Parr
November 1, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Teachers do a lot more than teach.
They are one of the sets of eyes that watch our children as they grow from that shy little girl who steps cautiously into a classroom with her Mom on that first day of school to seeing the change taking [;ace in a boy because the family he is part of is falling apart.
That teacher is the one who realizes when a student is ready for a bigger idea and knows just which book should be given to the child.
They see the student who comes to school in the winter weather with just a heavy sweater – there is no winter coat.
 She notes that the snow is deep and that boy is wearing just running shoes – there are no winter boots.
And she notes as well that on pizza days there are a couple of kids who don’t show up because they don’t have the money to pay for their pizza.
There is a group – the Halton Learning Foundation that is in place to provide some of the money needed to fill these gaps.
There are other organizations, Food4kids is one, that provides food for those that are going to go home to a house where there may not be a real square meal on the table.
Later this month the Learning Foundation will be holding their Benefit Bash. The event isn’t one of the fancier, splashy events where people get to wear that dress.
It isn’t a major event on the social calendar – but it is an important event. It raises some of the money that gets used to pay for some of the needs that students have that their parents can’t handle.
The business of taking care of these situations is always slim resources chasing growing needs.
On the 16th school day of this school year the request for funds was double what it had been the previous year at the same time. The social helpers in this city can see serious problems coming their way.
The Benefit Bash takes place November 10th at the Burlington Convention Centre.
This might be one of those places you could send a donation along to.
They will be announcing their No Student Left Behind campaign at the Benefit Bash – this is something we are looking forward to telling you a lot more about.
By Pepper Parr
November 1, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It is going to be a busy month for the bureaucrats at the J. M. Singleton Education Centre.
 The school board will be making presentations to parents at every high school in the city to explain what the Program Accommodation Review (PAR) is all about and what the Program Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) will be doing between December 1st and May of next year – when the school board expects to make a decision on which, if any, high schools are going to be closed.
The dates for the events at each high school are set out below.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 Robert Bateman HS 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 Nelson HS 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday, November 3, 2016 Aldershot HS 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Thursday, November 3, 2016 Burlington Central HS 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Monday, November 14, 2016 Lester B. Pearson HS 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Monday, November 14, 2016 M.M. Robinson HS 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Tuesday, November 15, 2016 Dr. Frank J. Hayden SS 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
The meetings are going to be brisk and to the point – and there will not, we are advised be a Q&A session during the meeting.
The Gazette will cover some of these meetings are report back on what takes place.
By Staff
October 29th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
There is time during each day that Member of Parliament get to say something about their community.
Last week Karina Gould rose in the House to tell her 338 colleagues about a remarkable young man named Griffin Gervais. Gould said:
Madam Speaker, on October 15, I had the opportunity to celebrate one young boy’s determination in revitalizing an important space in his community.
 Griffin Gervais with his parents Eleven-year-old Griffin Gervais was disappointed that his baseball diamond at Lakeshore Public School was in rough shape and not scheduled for an update. Rather than just accept the fact, Griffin decided he would lead the effort to repair the diamond.
Starting last January, Griffin with the help of his family, classmates, his community, and the city of Burlington’s neighbourhood community matching fund, raised a total of $12,000. Today, with two updated benches, new chain-link fencing, and a freshly mowed field, the Lakeshore Public School baseball diamond now looks better than ever.
 A smartly laid out baseball diamond behind Lakeshore Public school. Griffin’s story is one that is truly inspiring and shows that individuals can make a impact on their community if they set their mind to it. I thank Griffin for all of his hard work. I was proud to attend the grand opening and to see him throw the first pitch on the field.
 Burlington MP Karina Gould throwing the opening pitch at a Burlington Bandits baseball game. Gould by the way is no slouch on the baseball diamond either. She got it right across the plate – which is more than can be said when the Mayor was asked to throw that opening pitch.
 By Pepper Parr
October 28, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington parents with students in Central high and Lester B. Pearson high school are scrambling. The Halton District School Board (HDSB) put a series of recommendations before the trustees earlier this month that could result in the closing of the two high schools.
The Board of education is driven by provincial funding rules that require them to do a Program Accommodation Review (PAR) if the percentage of the seats available in a school that are being used falls below 65%
Central high and Pearson are at that level.
 Hayden High school, Burlington’s newest built as part of a complex that includes a Recreational Centre and a public library with a skate park across the street is at 115% capacity and already has portables in the parking lot. The Board situation is complicated in that the three year old Hayden high school is at 115% capacity.
Director of Education Stuart Miller explained to the trustees that the city has one and a half too many high schools – and that they are south of the QEW where the student population is falling.
The process of closing a school requires that a Program Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) be formed and that the trustees listen to what that committee recommends before making a decision.
The PARC process is to be completed by May of 2017. That is a tight timeline.
There are people in the academic world who think the province is forcing the school boards to do this the wrong way – and that opting for larger school rather than smaller school is bad pedagogy.
Schools play a central role in their communities. They are essential to economic development and they make communities more attractive to new- comers. Businesses are more likely to move to communities with schools, and families will not move to communities without schools. When a community loses its school, it loses its viability.
Extensive research over the last decade shows that small schools make excellent learning environments for students, and that, despite economies of scale, they are often cost effective because of their higher graduation rates.
Creative and proactive strategies must be developed now to recognise the value of small schools and to ensure their viability and that of their communities.
Bill Irwin of Huron University College and Mark Seasons at the University of Waterloo school of Planning argue that the push to close school doors seems to be an economic exercise, overlooking educational and community needs. Irwin is a professor of Economics and Management and Organizational Studies at Huron.
Together they have launched a website: env-blogs.uwaterloo.ca/schoolclosures/ offering a research-based platform to guide discussion about school closures.
“We believe,” the website states, “that the theory and best practices of both urban planning and public participation are good foundations from which to ameliorate the school closure process, and ultimately lead to a more effective and equitable outcome for those involved.”
The website is one of the outcomes of a 2013-14 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant.
“We’re looking at the whole issue surrounding school closures, in terms of several touchstones – as a public policy issue, and how policy is developed and delivered; as a public participation issue and the relationship between institutions and communities; and the implications of closures in terms of impacts on financial, social and human capital,” Irwin explained.
There are a number of factors driving this school closing trend.
• The last of the baby-boom generation’s children (who have created an enrollment swell since the 1970s) are now completing their secondary education.
• Ontario’s secondary school curriculum was reduced from five years to four years resulting in the loss of a whole grade of students.
• With the growing industrialization of agriculture, the loss of Ontario’s family farms has added to the exodus from rural areas.
 Terry Ruff, a former Central his school principal explained to parents how a possible closure was avoided when he was principal in 2000. “The research into the subject of school closures is grounded in developing and implementing a better decision making process with regards to accommodation review. To complement this, the researchers are concentrating on three areas of focus; public participation, urban planning, and the accommodation review process itself. We believe that the theory and best practices of both urban planning and public participation are good foundations from which to ameliorate the school closure process, and ultimately lead to a more effective and equitable outcome for those involved.
 The Simms building, directly across the street from city hall is a number of city departments – Legal and Human Resources. Might they take up some of the spare space at Central ? “One of the key components to realizing this objective is the ability to achieve an increased awareness of this issue, and to encourage an informed discussion between government officials, policy makers, school board administrators, and civic leaders alike. To support this, the researchers have provided material that they believe will enable a wide range of stakeholders to become better informed about the various guiding aspects of accommodation review and school closures.”
A major problem the closing of a school stumbles upon is that planning is a municipal function – and in Burlington the Board of Education and city hall tend not to work very closely together; the two don’t have an organizational structure they can meet on as equals.
The last time there was an educational issue that involved the city was when the Charles Beaudoin School wanted to add more portables – but in order to do so they had to get permits from the city.
The parents at the school didn’t want more in the way of portables so they pressured the city not to give the Board of Education what they said they needed.
The school board eventually got permission to install additional portables – just not as many as they needed.
“There is documentation that will enable others to become better informed about some of the more subtle elements and underlying causations that have led school closures to become such a highly contentious and polarizing experience.
 The parents at Central high are well organized – Pearson is trying to catch up. “School closure decision making process have been framed by policy makers in Ontario, through the accommodation review process (ARCs) (2006), as exercised in public participation. Critics of ARCs have decried the process being more of a subterfuge than a genuine attempt of joint institutional-community review. At its core, the research is a quest to better understand the relationship between institutions of education, in Ontario represented by the provincial Ministry of Education and local school boards, and the community.
“Furthering this understanding will require addressing the question: How do people view the concrete and practical application of school closure policy in their community? Critics of the current ARC process in Ontario have stated that the provincial government appears to ne be making use of school boards to regulate the citizenry to their own end, applying the version of the Foucauldain (a form of discourse analysis, focusing on power relationships in society as expressed through language and practices) notion of governmentality.
“The questions are: How does the community view the consequences of school closings, especially as the closing occur in local settings? How does (or do) the end results of school closings reflect what community members’ desire? or the process of review?
“The research starts with the premise that ‘true public participation’ in any policy decision rests not only with the institution listening to the community; the institution needs also to consciously include the community insights into the final outcome. Therefore institutional context and motive plays a pivotal role in determining a group or individual’s capacity to make informed choices, and then transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. Capturing that institutional context and motivation as it relates to public participation, actual and perceived, is a major focus of the research.”
Bill Irwin explains: “When I started my research – my thesis (in 2012) was on school closures – no one else had looked at this issue since the policy had come forward in 2005,” he continued, adding if the province was closing smaller community schools as a fiscal savings measure, there was no tracking of those savings. More importantly, there was no review of community costs.
“How does a closure impact students as learners? We don’t know if this is impacting students’ ability to learn or their marks. This happens in young people’s lives at the same time they’re going through emotional, physical changes. There are so many unanswered questions in this,” Irwin continued.
“The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is spending resources on rebuilding houses, while the Ministry of Education is supporting closures of community schools. We want to rebuild our inner cities, yet we want to shut down schools in their communities,” Irwin said.
“We’re taking schools from poor neighbourhoods and putting them in affluent neighbourhoods. It’s a reverse Robin Hood situation.”
“What’s more, current policies surrounding school closures ignore previous research that shows smaller schools have a great impact within their communities.
“In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, robust research literature was done on the benefits of small schools as learning environments, as having long term benefits to students. That literature has been totally ignored in this whole process,” Irwin said.
“All of us realize there will be a provincial election this year. This should be part of the discussion. How we treat our schools has a tremendous impact long-term on the social fabric of our communities,” Irwin said.
• The number of small elementary schools with full-time principals has dropped by 15%, twice the rate of the drop in all elementary schools in the province.
• The number of small elementary schools with a teacher-librarian (full- or part-time) has declined by 53% compared to a 30% decline in all elementary schools.
• Just 20% of small elementary schools have access to a physical educa- tion teacher, compared to 51% of larger elementary schools.*
• Only 25% of small elementary schools have access to specialist music teachers, compared to 61% of larger elementary schools.
• All larger secondary schools have libraries that are open full-time, but 21% of small secondary schools had libraries open only part-time.
 The Alton public school is scheduled to have a second floor added – the school hasn’t been open three years. Three quarters of Ontario’s small elementary schools and 83% of small high schools report that their schools are used by the community after school hours for everything from sporting events to ratepayers’ meetings.
Ontario’s drive to build larger schools is solely a response to an education funding formula geared to larger schools – it is an economic decision rather than a pedagogical one.
The HDSB recently approved taking on commercial enterprises that could use some of the space; meetings were held but nothing has come of this kind of opportunity so far.
The city of Burlington has been renting space in the Sims Building directly across from city hall for years. There is a consultant’s report in a filing cabinet gathering dust that sets out what the city is going to need in terms of office space and what is currently has – that report has not been released to the public yet.
After years of stopgap solutions, it is time to reverse the trend and recognize that closing a school is not simply an educational issue, it has major social and demographic repercussions as well.
The researchers declare that “we must recognize the reality of declining enrollment in Ontario, and come up with new and proactive solutions to maintain the viability of small schools and communities. It is time to develop creative ways to keep the school buildings vital and expand their role as the hub of their communities. We can take cues from other places: English small schools are inviting postal sub-stations to occupy a part of their buildings; Newfoundland has community schools that have on-site social service agencies, community radio stations, and seniors’ programs. It is possible to modify school buildings slightly so that they can function as community centres as well, and, if provided with adequate funding, day care centres enhance schools and act as a draw for young parents.”
 Expect to see a lot more evening with rooms packed with parents as the |Board of Education begins a series of meeting to explain the PAR process. There will not be a Q&A session at any of these meetings. Somewhere in the research there is mention of adjusting transportation guidelines and funding to ensure that no student spends more than 1½ hours per day on the school bus. That amount of time suggests students in Burlington are being prepped for commutes on the QEW,
The battle in front of the parents right now is the very real threat to two of the city’s high schools – there might be a higher level discussion these parents can put in front of the trustees and that is – what size of schools do we want and can we slow things down a bit and take the time needed to get this right the first time.
This article draws heavily on the work of Bill Irwin at Huron University College and Mark Seasons at the University of Waterloo.
Pretty sure this is a first for high school students – a letter from the Director of Education explaining the possibility that their high school might close. Interesting decision.
October 27, 2016
Open letter to all Burlington high school students
Dear Students,
As you have no doubt heard, the Board of Trustees of the Halton District School Board voted last week to begin a process to look at student accommodation issues in our Burlington high schools. The process is called a Program Accommodation Review or PAR. I am writing to explain a bit about this process, but more importantly, to let you know that your input will be important in this process.
Why do we need a “PAR” process?
The Halton District School Board has initiated the Program Accommodation Review because we have schools with declining enrollment. As the Director of Education, I have a responsibility to provide excellent programs and environments for learning. I need to ensure all secondary school students in our Board have access to the best possible education we can deliver.
According to the Board’s Program Accommodation Review policy, the Director’s Preliminary Report must include a staff recommended option. This recommendation is not a final decision, but a starting point for consultation in this PAR. Staff has recommended Option 19 which proposes various boundary and program changes across Burlington secondary schools, as well as the closure of Lester B. Pearson High School and Burlington Central High School.
The PAR process will begin in November with information sessions held at each Burlington high school. You are welcome to attend these sessions and learn more about this process and help you formulate your own opinions. These evening meetings are on November 1, 3, 14 and 15. Refer to the HDSB website at www.hdsb.ca for more details. If you are unable to attend, the presentation will be posted on the Board’s website.
On November 21 at 7 p.m., Board staff will join me in hosting a live online question and answer session. Log on at www.hdsb.ca . Your questions are most welcome.
The Board of Trustees will make their decision in May 2017; however the earliest date that any changes could take place is September 2018.
As high school students your opinion is valued. The decisions made by the PAR committee will profoundly impact your school experience and those who follow you. In the New Year, the PAR committee will gather feedback from Burlington high school students. We want to hear your voice!
As a parent and educator I understand many of you are deeply loyal to your school, your teachers, and the school traditions that have developed over many years.
 However, as the Director of Education, I need to ensure all Burlington high school students have equitable access to programs that allow them to explore and enhance their true potential. The PAR process will look at this issue and investigate various options to address the challenge that many Burlington high school students are experiencing.
I encourage you to stay informed and engaged in the PAR process. We will keep you informed through ongoing information posted on our website at www.hdsb.ca
We will provide more details about how you can share your input in the New Year.
Sincerely,
Stuart Miller, Director of Education, Halton District School Board
By Staff
October 26, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Do you remember the day you first went to school? It was certainly a different time – we live in a different world.
To start with there are no longer rows of desks.
The Halton District School Board wants to make that transition as smooth as possible. In November and December, future students and their parents/guardians are invited to attend one of five Kindergarten Open Houses to learn more about starting school.
 The years in school will probably be longer than the time they spend in any one job. Drop by any one of the following open houses between 6:30 to 7:30 pm.
Georgetown:
Thursday, Nov. 3 – Ethel Gardiner Public School (14365 Danby Road)
Burlington:
Thursday, Nov. 10 – Bruce T. Lindley Public School (2510 Cavendish Dr.)
Milton:
Thursday, Nov. 17 – Tiger Jeet Singh Public School (650 Yates Dr)
Acton:
Tuesday, Nov. 22 – Robert Little Public School (41 School Ln)
Oakville:
Thursday, Dec. 1 – West Oak Public School (2071 Fourth Line)
At the Open House, students and parents will:
• Explore a Kindergarten classroom
• Learn about play-based learning
• Pick up information and resource material in a free backpack
• Access information about community agencies and resources in Halton
• Get information about before and after school care
• Connect with special education staff to discuss any developmental concerns
Children born in 2013 can start Kindergarten in September 2017.
Registration for Kindergarten begins in January 2017 and takes place at the school your child will attend.
View our video to see what you will learn about the Board’s Kindergarten program.
By Pepper Parr
October 25th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Should the Halton District School Board trustees decide that the Lester B. Pearson High School should be closed and its students asked to attend M.M. Robinson instead that would bring to an end a school that was created for the community more than forty years ago when the idea of a community school was considered important.
 Great way to get an idea as to just what the alphabet is for the nursery set. The Pearson school was made even more unique when a Co-op nursery program was included. That nursery now provides classes for close to 100 children.
There are morning and afternoon sessions in a setting that will be very very hard to replicate.
Fiona Wielhouwer, with a certificate that is the equivalent to the Canadian Early Childhood Education that she earned in the United Kingdom, is the supervisor who reports to a nine parent volunteer board. That board may have a very serious and perhaps daunting task ahead of them.
 Tucked in at the very back of the high school the nursery has a seperate entrance and a secure well outfitted playground. The nursery co-op was planned as part of a school that would serve the wider community. A school the size of Pearson would normally have two gymnasiums – Pearson has three. The intention right from the beginning was to make the space available to everyone in the community.
The nursery serves as a student placement location for those who think they might want to work in the childhood care field. It is also affiliated with both Sheridan and Mohawk colleges where Early Childhood courses are given.
Fiona Wielhouwer explains that the nursery uses an enquiry based approach to the care they give the children. “We aren’t a drop and run location – we work with the parents and prepare the children for the JK and SK classes they will move on to – during their time with us the children get used to the idea of being away from Mommy for short periods of time and they learn to mix with other children.
The nursery interacts with the high school but administratively it is a separate organization. We do get help from the IT people in the high school and when we need something from the shop people they work with us.
 Portables that were once necessary are now empty – a sign of the enrollment decline. As a community school it works. Pearson was never intended as a large high school. When enrollment exceeded the capacity a bunch of portables were stuck at the front of the school – they are now empty.
When the school was created it was intended as a “lab” school – a place where different ideas would be tested. The co-op nursery in a school has worked out very well. Some of that original thinking seems to have been forgotten and now it is a matter of numbers.
There are now parents who have their children in the nursery – there was a time when they were in the nursery and then attended the high school.
The city is said to have invested some money in the school when it was built and the belief is that the Region supports the nursery financially.
There was a time when there were community clubs in the school – the place was a real community hub – that too seems to have been given up on.
 Current Director of Education for the HDSB, Stuart Miller was once the vice principal at Pearson. The school is now set out as the preferred option of the board staff for closing – the current Director of Education Stuart Miller was once the Vice principal at the school and he knows what kind of a school it is – however, his job requires him to initiate the process of determining if a school should be closed when it falls below 65% of its capacity utilization.
It is now up to the trustees to determine of the school should close – and it is up to the parents to inform the trustees as to what they want.
For the children – this week is all about pumpkins – especially the ghost pumkins.
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