By Pepper Parr
January 16th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The process of closing the two Burlington high schools begins.
Some good new – the Ministry of Education is providing capital funding for the relocation of two existing child care programs.
What was a purpose built school that included an additional gymnasium is going to be hard to replace.
Pearson Co-operative Nursery School will move from Lester B. Pearson High School to Brant Hills Public School in Burlington.
The Lord Elgin YMCA Child Care Centre will move from Robert Bateman High School to Frontenac Public School in Burlington.
The provincial government will provide funding for these two projects. Brant Hills Public School will receive $771,381 to upgrade facilities, and Frontenac Public School will receive $1,028,508.
For both these relocated child care programs, the capital funding will be used to retrofit underutilized spaces.
Scott Podrebarac, Superintendent of Education who handled the PARC’s and with responsibility for Early Years/Child Care Liaison in the Halton District School Board said: the funding “allows us to work with two long-standing, established child care programs to increase the number of child care spaces in our community and serve more families.”
The design phases for the Pearson Co-operative Nursery School are complete and the new space will open at Brant Hills Public School in September 2018.
How many of the parents currently using the Pearson facilities will want to or be able to use the new location.
Renovations to Frontenac Public School are in the preliminary design stages and the opening date for the Lord Elgin YMCA Child Care Centre will be announced at a later date.
Another ignored question during the PAR, now answered after the fact. Next up; closures of elementary feeder schools?
Now we know what will happen to the day cares, housed at Burlington High Schools.
In the winter of 2013 Burlington experienced massive power outage due to a terrible ice storm, the city opened three locations where people could go to for warmth and shelter. Haber Recreation Centre was one of these locations, and the location that stayed open the longest. Harber Recreation Center offered a place to possibility sleep, warm up, have a shower and charge phones and other electronics. Some also used Alton Library to warm up and charge phones. Many families went to Harber Recreation Centre with shampoo and towels in hand to get a warm shower, then go back home. Dr. Frank Hayden students now crowd Haber Recreation Centre and Alton Library, making this option less of an option should Burlington have a similar disaster. Libraries in Burlington offer cooling centres during heat waves, Alton Library is now often over crowed, so can it still be a cooling centre for the community, during heat waves?
Right on George.
Welcome to my nightmare.
I knew more than a year ago that none of us were going to like it.
George;
Your message is so on point I’d like to stab myself in the head.
I won’t but the pain of this reality is worse.
Gall Unmitigated Gall!
Let me tell you about unmitigated gall with local examples:
On June 7th, 2017 the Halton District School Board Trustees based upon the recommendation of the Halton District School Board Director of Education and staff voted to close two Burlington high schools, Lester B. Pearson and Robert Bateman.
The communities affected in Burlington objected strongly to the closure of two Burlington high schools and requested and received from the Ontario Ministry of Education an Administrative Review.
Just prior to Christmas 2017 the Ontario Ministry of Education appointed Facilitator of the Lester B. Pearson and Robert Bateman Administrative Review stated at the end of her report “Based upon my review and consultations, I conclude that, while there were violations of the (Halton District School) Board PAR Policy, they were such that they had no material effect on either the deliberations of the PARC or on the final decisions of the Board.”
Unmitigated Gall # 1
On January 10th, 2018 the Ontario Ministry of Education revealed their support of the Administrative Review and the Halton District School Board recommendation and Trustees vote to close the two Burlington high schools whilst an adjacent school current was over loaded with 12 portable classrooms and an attendance of 129% and a plan to add 6 more portables to reach an attendance of 151% in the near future.
Unmitigated Gall # 2
Only six days later on Tuesday January 16, 2018 Ontario Minister of Education Ms. Mitzie Hunter announced Ontario will spend $ 784 Million to support construction of 39 new schools and additions and renos to 40 additional facilities. The government said the announcement comes in addition to a funding commitment made by the province last year to spend $1.4 billion on school repairs.
Unmitigated Gall # 3
A local news media announced “New child care spaces coming to Burlington elementary schools” and further describes “The development of new childcare spaces in Burlington is valued at $1.8 Million. Our local MPP would have you believe “As a result of this investment, 87 children and their families will gain access to high-quality licensed care in a safe, convenient setting,”
“NEW childcare spaces”.
Are these not the childcare spaces removed from the Lester B. Pearson high school nursery school program? Are These “NEW childcare spaces” or TRANSFERRED childcare spaces from high-quality licensed care in a prior safe, convenient setting at $1.8M dollars cost to the taxpayer?
Di we now have George Orwell’s 1984 political speak in full force?