PARRY SOUND – The last,
best hope of parents who want to stop the Grade 7 and 8 students from being
moved into the high school is the upcoming Accommodation Review Committee.
With the official meeting dates set this week, the community now has an
opportunity to have their voice officially heard regarding the potential
closure of several local schools and the controversial plan to relocate area
Grade 7 and 8 students into Parry Sound High School.
Paul Addie will act as the facilitator at the upcoming ARC meetings. A veteran
of multiple ARCs, Addie said it is a possibility that the committee will send a
recommendation back to the board that advises maintaining the status quo in a
community's schools.
"The risk that is run if ARC committees do that, and I've been involved in
some that have, in that they basically say, 'you know what? We don't want you
to close our schools, so now it's up to you to decide what you're going to do.'
The opportunity is there for the board of trustees to ignore the
recommendation," said Addie.
If the opposition that changes received when they were first announced is any
indication, it seems like a distinct possibility that a “maintain the status
quo” recommendation could be sent back to the board from Parry Sound. The area
committee will likely be made up of the same people who were most vocal in
their opposition to the plan.
While committee members have not been announced yet, the formula used to find
appropriate members is well defined, but is flexible if necessary. The voting
members include two parent representatives from each of the involved schools,
two students who are usually from the area high school, and a community member
at large. Principals are asked to discuss with their school council who they
believe would be a good individual to fill the "community member at
large" seat.
"In the West Ferris ARC, which was the first one done by the Near North
board earlier this year, the community member was a gentleman who had been a
student at each of the schools involved and his children were now in each of
the schools involved. He also coached at the local high school. He was
assisting in coaching some teens, so a very active member in the community.
It's someone everyone can point to and say 'he would be the right person to
represent us'," Addie said.
By constructing the committee out of community members, Addie said it can put
those same members in an awkward position. Oftentimes, ARCs will result in an
unpopular recommendation to close down a community school.
The non-voting members of the committee include the principals of the affected
schools, the school superintendent, and one elected trustee. In Addie's
experience, an ARC public meetings can range from being very calm events to
very emotional ones. Oftentimes, deputations from the public can be very
impassioned, and, Addie said, they are anticipating emotional deputations at
the Parry Sound ARC.
"We expect there will be some impassioned speakers, and it's my job to
ensure everyone gets listened to... and that our meetings don't cause further
unrest in the community," said Addie.
In the event that a meeting becomes out of hand, and Addie said he doesn't
expect Parry Sound's too, he is able to shut a meeting down and reschedule it.
In the time he has been facilitating ARCs, he has never needed to shut a
meeting down.
Addie said he believes that once you allow people to have their voice heard in
the formal setting of the committee, it takes some of the emotion out of the
debate.
"The majority of ARCs say, 'Okay, it looks like two thirds of the students
in this community don't attend this school anymore or there aren't enough kids
to maintain the school. Let’s make the best of a bad situation.' We want you to
build a state-of-the-art school for the kids who are attending so they tend to
make recommendations that enhance programs and opportunities for students
sometimes in the local school, sometimes in a new setting," said Addie.
The first meeting of the Parry Sound ARC will take place on February 21 at
Parry Sound High School from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The second meeting will
be on March 20 at McDougall, the third will be on April 18 at Nobel and the
fourth will be at Parry Sound High School.