Pearson, Bateman high schools eyed for closure

The worst fears of two school communities in Burlington appear to be coming true.

The director of education for the Halton District School Board, Stuart Miller, is recommending Lester B. Pearson and Robert Bateman high schools be closed following his study of options coming out of a program accommodation review (PAR) process for the city’s seven public high schools.

Miller released his highly anticipated 282-page report on Friday.

When the process began in October of last year, there was a preliminary recommendation to close Pearson and Central high school in the downtown. The review was created due to declining enrolment but the notion of closing Central lead to hard lobbying by a parents group and Ward 2 Coun. Marianne Meed Ward — who has a child at the school — got a seat on the PAR committee. The group covered lawns with Central Strong signs.

When Bateman got pulled into the mix, parents there organized a weekend rally in March that saw them and supporters form a ring around the school to give it a “hug.” Pearson supporters also rallied outside board meetings, some carrying “Hands off Pearson” signs.

A Bateman parent, Debbie Norris, has started a petition against closing the high school on change.org.

The main recommendations include:

1. Robert Bateman High School to be closed in June 2019 and students redirected to Nelson High School and M.M. Robinson High School.

2. The International Baccalaureate (IB) program to transfer from Robert Bateman High School to Burlington Central High School, effective September 2019.

3. Lester B. Pearson High School to be closed in June 2018 and students redirected to M.M. Robinson High School commencing September 2018.

4. French immersion (FI) program to be moved from Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School to M.M. Robinson H.S. as of September 2018, beginning with the Grade 9 program.

5. Students from the “Evergreen” community (currently undeveloped, west of Hayden) will be directed to M.M. Robinson High School.

6. Aldershot High School will be explored as a site for a magnet program or themed school.

“An impact of the recommendation is the creation of two composite schools in Burlington, one in the north (M.M. Robinson High School) and one in the south (Nelson High School), both offering a full range of all programs,” Miller states in the executive summary.

The founder and chair of Lester B. Pearson H.S.’s save Lester B. Pearson High School committee is saddened by the director’s recommendation to close Pearson.

“I strongly believe that the drastic measure to close our school is very short-sighted. Lester B. Pearson is located in an area of population growth and geographic change through neighbourhood turnover,” said Amy D’Souza.

“The issue with the 1,800 empty (pupil spaces across Burlington) is the fact that these spaces are not spread evenly across grade levels or across schools, which is having greater impact on some schools and less at others.”

Lisa Bull, one of the two parent representatives for Robert Bateman on the Burlington high schools PAR committee, said she is shocked and confused by the recommendation to close Bateman.

“I am devastated and shocked by director Miller’s recommendations. I am also extremely curious about his change from recommending Central (and Pearson) for closure in his first recommendation to Bateman (and Pearson) in today’s report.

“I question the influence of a sitting city council member on the PAR committee and want to better understand the role this (may have) played in director Miller’s change of heart.

Bull continued: “The option that he has recommended contains two of the largest cost items in all of the PAR options — building new selfcontained facilities at Nelson and making Central AODA (accessibility) compliant. This makes no sense. There are far too many vulnerable students who would be impacted by the closure of our school so we will not stop fighting.”

Central parents issued a statement Sunday that said while they sympathized with the supporters of Bateman and Pearson, “We took effort and care to prove that Central was not the problem … We will continue to delegate and push forward to remind the trustees of this until the final vote” on June 7.

The formal PAR process began in December 2016 following board policy and ministry of education guidelines, says the director’s report.

There is a school board committee of the whole public meeting on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the board’s main office, the J.W. Singleton Education Centre. Miller will deliver his report to trustees. On May 8 and 11, the board will hear from public delegations. On May 17, the PAR report goes to trustees for information with the final vote on recommendations set for June 7.

To view the director’s final report, go to http://bit.ly/2kLn20k and click on the Director’s Final Report link.