By Pepper Parr
March 1, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
As a city we are going to do ourselves in unless we do better than we are doing.
With the Halton District School Board going through the difficult process of deciding which, if any, high schools to close, the mayor has declared that he “represent the interests of all the people of Burlington. As such, I will not choose to promote one school over another during this review process.”
In a statement published on his blog yesterday, the Mayor said:
“In a perfect world with unlimited financial resources, we would not have to see any schools closed in Burlington.
“Every school in Burlington matters to its neighbourhood, its students and their families, its staff and its alumni.”
“As Mayor, I represent the interests of all the people of Burlington. As such, I will not choose to promote one school over another during this review process. This is a decision of the Halton District School Board, and because of that, it is important that Burlington City Council not use its influence to favour specific schools.
Burlington City Council purposely chose City Manager James Ridge to serve as an objective representative of the City of Burlington on the Halton District School Board’s Program and Accommodation Review Committee.”
That is not how Mr. Ridge got chosen to represent the city on the Program Accommodation Review Committee (PARC). At a city council meeting the Mayor read out an email he had received from a resident asking that he, the Mayor, sit on the PARC.
Burlington city manager, on the right with Scott Podrebarac on the left at a PARC meeting.
The Mayor said at that meeting that Mr. Ridge had volunteered to sit on the PARC. There was no debate or discussion. The Mayor just made the statement and that was it.
One resident wrote the Gazette and said of the Mayor: “What he doesn’t understand is most residents get that he can’t favour one school over another. But they also don’t expect him to stay on the sidelines. They expect him to speak up on the importance of community schools, and how the city’s strategic plan calls for walkable, complete communities.
“They expect him to represent the public’s interest and encourage the school board to elevate their perspective beyond operating cost reductions.
“The school board has created a process that is pitting one neighbourhood against another. It’s disappointing but not surprising the mayor has declared what he is NOT prepared to do. What resident’s want to do know, is what he WILL do.
Mayor Rick Goldring at a city council meeting.
“If he understood his role and had the fortitude, he would not duck responsibility; rather he would use his office to assist the effort to find the best possible outcome for Burlington, and serve in whatever way he can to bring neighbourhoods together.
“He chose the easy way out.”
You have summarized the problems created by the Province well, Chris. Thank you. I’m going to print off your comments so that I have them with me if I am able to get a meeting with Provincial officials.
I think this article has a very good perspective on this issue.
It is critical for our civic leaders to be impartial with respect to the individual schools involved. Each school has a distinct meaning and to the neighbourhoods and to citizens.
However when it comes to the underlying situation for the future of our city, one cannot be impartial and must uphold sound planning principles to ensure the long-term of our city. This includes alignment to the Strategic Plans that we spent a good deal of money and effort developing.
For example, the principle that having the most students possible walking to school instead of being bussed or driven to school is a critical factor that must be considered. Also the remaining capacity ensuring that we can minimize the number of students that would be accomodated in portables.
Just looking at the map of each school and the covered areas within walking distance, leads me to the conclusion that the only options currently on the table that work in this regard are the options 7a (no schools close) and 4b (Bateman closes). All of the other options have at least one or more areas in the city that will be underserviced and require busing, and have a requirement for portable classrooms at one or more schools.
However, the root of the problem is the Provincial formula for school funding. The Board will not be able to fund the construction of new schools in growing areas (for example in Milton) without cutting the number of schools that are underutilized in Burlington. It’s a no-win formula-driven process that greatly disadvantages established urban centres, which are mandated by the Province to accept much of the growth in coming years. The policies are not in sync, and citizens need to put pressure on the Province to recognize this and support their own growth policies with a move away from warehousing students in megaschools and instead recognize the value of smaller, more community-based secondary schools.
Chris,
Excellent perspective, analysis, and logical conclusion.
I would add the following.
1. We not only cannot afford new schools in growth areas, like Milton, as you note, it is only now being revealed that we can’t afford to build Hayden Secondary, right here in Burlington.
We have been told that HDSB built new spaces at Hayden to deal with busing and splitting up students all around the existing 6 (no data or evidence is provided.
At the same time, WITHOUT TELLING THE RESIDENTS, the Board agreed to close these excess spaces 4 to 5 years later, in the south 6, and then bus and split up those students all around.
So the $34 million cash for Hayden was just the down payment. Now it is being suggested that Burlington itself come up with one or two of the six existing schools, to close, in order to make the final agreed to payment for Hayden.
And this final payment is being paid in due in the 4 to 5 years specified. Hayden opened on 2013, and the Board preferred closures would take place in 2018.
One can infer from missing information that something like this happened, but a resident that was involved in this plan to build Hayden, has stepped forward to tell the Gazette about what happened in his experience, as an eye witness.
2. It is striking that it appears the north residents didn’t really care about, or recognize, the impacts on the south 6 of this 4-5 year agreement, or at least they didn’t think about, or it didn’t sink in.
In any case, the Board didn’t disclose the agreement to close the OTG excess publicly to the south 6 residents. The same tactic of pitting residents against one another is going on now. But it looks like none will be unscathed.
A clear case of non-disclosure of public business to those directly affected, and bad faith.
3. The data on the busing impacts of closing Central and Pearson show these impacts as evidence. You can see how the splits are made and the numbers, with the closings. About 600 more students will be on the buses, up from about 1000.
No such evidence is provided to show what the analogous busing situation was before the building of Hayden, as the Board claims.
4. Another key logical implication, not yet in people’s consciousness, is due to the overflowing and portables at Hayden, which, to me, implies that with continued growth there, and pupil yields that are have been over the Board estimates used, there will be another demand for another school. It’s a clear consequence.
We need to ask how such a thing is being considered or if it is.
5. This raises the busing question again. If Hayden was purportedly built for busing reasons, and it’s now overflowing with more to come, how is the overflowing induced need for new seats going to be satisfied without busing, except for another new school?
Or more portables? Somewhere.
This all needs to be disclosed and spelled out.
Finally, I agree that the City and Council needs to get its planning act together and get involved, for all the reasons you state, which I won’t.
repeat.
The Board will not be taking care of any these considerations, as the 2015 rules say no, so the City must get in there or it won’t get done.
And what kind of grand Strategic and new Official Plan is that supposed to be? After all the time and money spent and still not done with an OP?
No excuses!
Maybe Rick Goldring is tired of being the mayor.
Wow.Sounds like a lot of Central families want the mayor to speak on their behalf. Many students get bussed to school in the whole city so why should one school request the mayor to speak to something that will only support their position. Half of Aldershot gets bussed from north of the 403 with some students further away than those students that could get bussed if Central closed. Bussing teenagers to school happens. Some walk and some drive and some take public transit and some get a school bus and some walk even if they could take a school bus. As long as kids get to school and get an education that is whats important. I think the mayor is right in not saying anything to affect the review at all. When I think about a walkable city i think about being close enough to walk to the store or go for a walk on sidewalks in good shape. Walking is there for anyone now outside of school. If they don’t live near their school they walk to the park close to home and they walk to the store close to home and they walk or take a bus to their job. You cant expect the mayor to say anything about making sure there are schools in each pocket.you would have way too many schools then.besides as we already see that there are other amenities even where there arent schools.
Absolutely Will. Nailed it.
But why stop with potentially adding Centrals 600, plus about 300 Central middle school kids to be bussed, lets bus all the kids. No need for exercise, fresh air, time with family. It just a bus, no big deal. Right of passage, hour extra travel a day, into a portable…when you used to walk….
Actually, I think that lines up with the Mayors vision. Less walking more bussing. I guess he should keep quite.
Mayor, hello? Hello….
Will,
I think what parents really want is for the Mayor and the City to speak for all the schools.
THe problem is the Board process has them isolated by school, some schools are doing almost nothing that I have seen, and Central got passionate and organized right away.
The Board not naming any other schools than Central and Pearson lulled all the other schools, and too many people, into thinking they were not at risk.
Another thing to consider is that under the 2015 Ministry rules, the Board can’t consider impacts on the city, culture, and community.
So it seems natural that residents would look to the city and Council to do this for them.
Apparently, the Council hasn’t got the message. Shameful.
And you need to go look for the real facts on walking versus busing by students. There is not a comprehensive information set on this, but what exists doesn’t seem to me to agree with what you say.
One thing I forgot to mention.
This is not supposed to be about “operating cost reductions”, or a “perfect world with unlimited financial resources”.
Director Miller told me personally that this is about the students, about what is good for them. He has told public meetings essentially the same thing – you can find this in the Gazette archives.
I asked 3 times for an accounting of how school closures were going to be translated into what will be good for students, but have received absolutely no answers.
So far, everything I’ve seen is about the money – reducing school space operating needs, reducing renewal costs, and selling surplus assets.
And Hayden financing was listed in the 2009 LTAP as being partly from dispositions of existing surplus Board assets.
I see no discussion and no details on how this is about students, and how this is good for them.
What do they get?
Yvonne, wow, wow. Come down to Central anytime at opening or closing and observe. Mayor has talked about walkability for years and years. He has held big evening sessions inviting big planners to talk about the fact each section of the city needs amenities in each pocket…including schools. “Walking the talk” is also what we are speaking of here.
To that concerned parent: Taxes always go up in Burlington THAT you can count on.
What you might also be able to count on is a reduction in the value of your home – families want to live in communities where there is a school reasonably close by. The attract better prices.
At BCHS the students mostly walk. There are very few students who are driven in the morning and only a small percentage that take the bus.
It is the Mayors job to see that the city maintains the goals set out in the strategic plan. Today’s Urban planning model is based around walkable communities. The Ontario government has passed legislation for municipalities to plan their growth around Urban Center’s where there are go stations, bus terminals and so on for people to have immediate access to. They do this to promote walkability, a healthy environment and infrastructure. People are flocking to Urban Centre’s so they have everything they need at their finger tips. Last year, on winter walk to school day, I had a conversation with our Mayor about how to fix the issue of driving everywhere in the north and how to encourage the area to be more like we are here in the core of Burlington. We had this conversation based on the Strategic Plan and how to make it a reality. His silence in NOT at least voicing what criteria he thinks is important for the City of Burlington is a failure to represent the best interests of the City. In no way should he be choosing one school over another but he ABSOLUTELY should be at the very least forming an opinion on maintaining walkable neighbourhoods, reducing the impact on the environment and keeping our infrastructure intact.
Yvonne, my daughter is walking to that school, so are her friends. And if they sometimes get a ride if they were late getting up, at least your tax payers money doesn’t have to be spent on bussing over 600 kids to 2 different schools! And we don’t have to pay for portables they will have to put up at Aldershot for our kids if the school board closes Central. I would encourage you to go to one of the PARC committee meetings and see for yourself how is this process set up. Are you sure you are ok with having school trustees decide on the future of our city and our future generations? This is not just about schools Yvonne, it goes way beyond that and this is why our city needs to get involved!
There are so many other ways of filling empty classrooms. There are many adults who would like to have courses available during the day. What about apprenticeship programs for trades, or perhaps courses in life skills where students could actually learn how to balance a check book, sew on a button, make a meal.
Perhaps it is time to stop whining about empty classrooms and closing schools and think outside the box on how to fill those classrooms with programs that would benefit both students and adults living in the community.
The answer is not to bus them to other schools and put the students in portables because the school they are being sent to does not have enough room for them.
Actually, I live downtown and I see tons of high school kids walking to school all the time.
Secondly, the school is not half full. Check your numbers. Oh, and let’s not forget about those 220+ pesky grade 7 and 8 students at Central.
Hyperbole anyone!
I disagree on your stance ,Mayor did the right thing , People need to stop running to Council and Mayor and go to their elected trustees . Some of the reasons are laughable i.e. walkable community – when is the last time we have seen high school students walk to school – look at Hayden at pick up time where street is packed with parents etc waiting for kids . BIA is worried that in closing Central it will ruin their businesses ,Really? maybe the convenience store or Tim Hortons but not the rest Cant wait for the board to make their decision as this has taken up way too much time and space , People will survive ,heck are taxes may go down when Board does not have to maintain a half empty school
Good luck on taxes going down.
How about a few more facts and less sniping – The Board would not have to “maintain a half empty school” as you put it.The HDSBs own report states that Aldershot High School is operating at 78% capacity, Burlington High School is operating at 68% capacity, Nelson High School is operating at 74% capacity. Robert Bateman High School is operating at 60% capacity, M.M. Robinson is operating at 54% capacity and Dr. Frank J Hayden Secondary school is operating at 188% capacity. Burlington Central High School is not “half empty”; it’s operating at a higher percentage than 2 other schools and Hayden is quite obviously overcrowded. HDSB will deny it to the bitter end but the value of the land that the schools sit on is what’s driving this – and one school in particular – any guesses? . I can understand why anyone would be absolutely fed up with this council and The Mayor of Burlington’s stance – “when in doubt say nothing”.The Mayor has no problem standing front and centre lecturing us and offering up the same old mantra provided by his expensive consultants. Grow Bold! Intensification! Mobility Hubs! Build, build, build and the higher the better. His “vision” of turning COB into some vast Metropolis of condo-skyscrapers is his way of pandering to the Province’s directives. Now why would he do that without at least proposing some alternatives? We can only speculate. He is elected to represent the City of Burlington as a whole and lead the council but chooses to provide no leadership at all, and not just on this issue. If he makes another statement announcing the formation of yet another Advisory Committee I swear I shall scream. I revise my earlier statement “when in doubt say nothing” A more apropos statement would be “When in doubt reach for the Handy Book of empty platitudes that make it appear as if you are interested and engaged” And no, I do not have any school-aged children; I just don’t want to see high priced condos that will only enrich some developers take over the spaces currently occupied by schools that have enriched the lives of so many Burlington residents over the years. What evidence do I have that this will happen?- admittedly none but as yet I am unaware of ANY explanation as to what HDSB intends to do with land that, for example, BCHS currently occupies. If anyone knows what the plan is please let us all know.
Yvonne,
I’ve been listening to your seemingly blind and rabid stance that everyone is just supposed to shut up and let the Board decide everything for us so that your opinion on power can be played out.
You disagree vehemently with everyone that has a view, on participation in this watershed decision for the city, that differs from yours. You sound like you would like to be a dictator so you could order everyone to stay out except the trustees.
From all your exclamation marks over the time of this discussion in the Gazette – !!!!!! remember? – this is quite clear.
If the Mayor claims he ought not to favour any school, then he should shut up with his apologist stance that justifies the Board doing what it will on the basis of money issues that he doesn’t even describe with any information and discussion.
If the Mayor is going to stay out of it, then, please, do as you say and stay out of it.
We want our elected Council members to stand up for the city interests and be counted. But you don’t want to do this, so you don’t stand up for us.
Stop the crap that you should remain out of, while at the same time, by doing this, you are really taking a position favoring closures, and the Board.
You are either with the city residents or against them, by your actions or non-actions, or you are not.
You are apparently not. You will not be forgiven.
What other options havethe province given the mayor or the school board/trustees. I keeping hearing upset people, but no solutions that will be accepted. What good would it do the process for the mayor to say he favours community schools unless we as a city want to challenge Queens Park with the mayor leading the charge?
The only reason the mayor should say he favours community schools is because of the umpeen-hundred-thousand-dollar city plan HE oversaw saying exactly that.
So then why didn’t every politico in this process just say from the very beginning that no solution would be accepted – that they all have no choice, there is no point in rallying the troops, that they made an agreement 5 yrs ago to get a new school by eventually closing others. Instead, the Board/Ministry – whoever, all of them – has entirely mislead the school communities into believing this process was a truly democratic one, that everyone’s input would be welcome, that change would be truly considered when it never was nor would be?
Instead there has been backstabbing, whispering, backrooming, yelling and spitting throughout the whole process. A terrible example for the students, IMHO.
Bang on! The Mayor is basically dodging and hiding by saying he won’ t speak for any single school, neither is he speaking for the city as a whole nor for the city plan he oversaw which supposedly supports walkable communities. He is definitely taking the easy backroad to ride this issue out.
Did you express your opinion to your local trustee to voice your concerns ? Probably not ! Why go after City Council they have no jurisdiction over education act
Actually Yvonne, I happen to have a good personal relationship with our Trustee – we speak quite frequently, on a normal basis, much more through this process. How about you? Please don’t assume because I have an opinion that I have not already exhausted all other ‘reasonable’ avenues of communication – right on up to the Board Director. Have you spoken with your Trustee? Have you spoken with the Director? Have you spoken with others at the Board, Ministry, City levels? I have. And I’ll take the high road and give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have done the same, given your quick opinion of my comment.
And I am only “going after” the City Council because they should at least take a position in this process, don’t you think? Especially given that they produced a multi-paged report extolling the virtues of a walk-able city of Burlington. THAT is their job and THAT is what I’m calling on them to support. Pls read my comment again and see exactly what I asked of the mayor.