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.