What’s more important — our schools or a train station?

Burlington school closures happening too fast

Families in Burlington have been forced into the province’s tedious school closure process. On April 18, former Spectator reporter Denise Davy asked Burlington city council to support her motion to send a message to the Minister of Education to immediately suspend the process. The following is a condensed version of her presentation:

Last month, Minister of Education Mitzie Hunter reminded school boards and municipal councils that they are required to work with and consult with each other on the impact of school closures and how they will affect the community.

This did not happen in Burlington and I believe it is a solid reason why this city council should ask the province that this process be suspended.

Schools are a critical component of our city and we need to know the social and economic impact of what these closures will mean. Some municipalities have written to the province requesting a moratorium of the closure process while others have asked for staff reports to study the impact of those closures. That never happened in Burlington.

Sarnia’s city council did an extensive Community Impact Assessment Study that helped determine how the school closures fit in with their strategic plan. Toronto Council voted unanimously to ask the city manager for an inventory of city interests in schools and sent a request to the TDSB and province asking to change the school funding formula and review its approach on school closures.

What I want to make absolutely clear is that the high noise volume around this issue isn’t just an emotional outpouring because parents don’t want to see their child’s school close. Parents get that there are empty seats, they understand the issue of population decline just as they understand there is only so much money in the education pot.

The emails and calls you’ve been receiving are not just about that. It’s about the process.

As one of the hundreds of parents who have had a front-row seat to this process, I can tell you that it is deeply flawed from a procedural viewpoint and that it has not followed ministry guidelines.

Worst of all, it has moved along at such a breakneck speed that many critical questions have been left unanswered.

The closure of some 600 schools across the province is being called the largest and fastest sweep of school closures in the history of this province. And it’s happening in communities like ours in a matter of months.

Consider that Robert Bateman High School and Nelson High School were only officially added to the possible closure list in early February which means there will have been two and a half months to study all of the pitfalls of closing of those schools.

There have been no in-depth reports or studies detailing the short and long-term impact these closures will have on students or on the city nor has there been any detailed reports on dollar costs.

Case in point is the city pool attached to Bateman. The pool would see far fewer people using it because it would no longer be used by students during the day. This is after some $2 million was spent upgrading it.

I came to this experience as a parent but I also brought a journalist’s perspective. As someone who has covered council meetings, OMB hearings, human rights tribunals and criminal court, I’ve seen the inner workings of many processes and I can tell you without any reservation that the PAR has been the most disorganized, irresponsible and unaccountable process I have ever witnessed. Bar none.

We’re not talking about closing a strip plaza here. We’re talking about schools filled with hundreds of students and yet it’s being decided in less than three months. Your council took longer to decide the fate of a heritage train station than a decision like this, which will have far greater ramifications.

Your vote to support a suspension of this process could be the tipping point and even if it isn’t, it would send a message to tens of thousands of constituents that you understand their concerns.

I urge you to support this motion so the long-term impact of any school closures can be more carefully considered. Thank you. Burlington city councillors voted 5 to 1 against the motion.