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News
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Consultation process on Eastern School District
restructuring report a sham December 21, 2005
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Roland Butler, Opposition Education Critic and MHA for the District of Port
de Grave, says the consultation process on the Eastern School District’s
multi-year plan is a sham. Butler says the process is too restricted and not
enough time is being provided for parents to make their case to the school
board and government. School councils in the Eastern School District have received an invitation to make a submission on the recently released report on the multi-year plan for the board. Included in this invitation were guidelines on participating in the process. These guidelines limit presentations to ten minutes in duration; no dialogue is permitted with officials; hearings will be private; and all submissions must be made by January 31st. The recently released restructuring report recommends the closure of schools in Heart’s Delight, Whitbourne, Green’s Harbour, the Holyrood area, Harbour Grace, Coley’s Point, Upper Island Cove, Clarenville, Grand Le Pierre, English Harbour East, Petite Forte, Burin Bay Arm and Lamaline. It also recommends the downsizing of schools in Western Bay, Victoria, Little Heart’s Ease, Random Island, Swift Current, Kings Cove, Catalina, Bonavista, and Lawn. In the St. John’s area, neighbourhood schools such as St. Mary’s Elementary, Virginia Park Elementary, St. John Bosco, Macpherson Elementary, I.J. Sampson and Booth Memorial will also be negatively impacted by this plan. "The Eastern School District’s idea of consultations is ludicrous," said Mr. Butler. "We are discussing the outright closure of over 20 schools and the downsizing of many more. To address these concerns, the school board is moving forward with a consultation process that will last less than a month and will be so severely restrained that it will be a private forum that limits parents from giving a substantial presentation on their ideas. "The committee overseeing these hearings state in their letter to parents that they will consider all information in finalizing a multi-year plan. This is very scary when the process will be rushed, constrained, and hidden from the general public. Is the school board truly committed to an open and consultative process, or do they have their own agenda as to the future plans of the Eastern School District? "Education Minister Joan Burke committed to having inclusive and comprehensive consultations on this report, then stated the report should be shredded, and is now calling for consultations once again. It appears the minister is confused as to her intentions with the report. The process announced by the board is hidden and evasive and I expect government has a very close role in deciding which schools will close. I call upon Minister Burke to intervene and ensure that this process becomes more open and transparent as was previously promised."
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