by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Westmeath community members, as well as council from the Township of Whitewater Region, are hopeful they can save Westmeath Public School from closure as well as change how decisions are made regarding the closure of schools.
On Feb. 23, staff at the Renfrew County District School Board provided trustees with a report that there should be a student review conducted on Westmeath Public School due to low enrollment. The trustees agreed and notification was sent out that night and the next day.
A Save Our School (SOS) committee was formed, with Neil Nicholson at the helm, in hopes of fighting the closure. A public meeting was held in March to inform people of what had happened, why it had happened and what needed to be accomplished to keep the school open.
On April 14 a public meeting was hosted by the school board at the Westmeath Community Hall, but the public was not allowed to publicly speak. Following a short presentation by various staff members, those at the meeting had opportunity to talk to staff who were stationed at four stations set-up around the room.
At the board meeting on Monday, May 16, delegations will be heard regarding Westmeath Public School and on Tuesday, May 31, the decision will be made whether to keep the school opened or closed.
During last night’s Whitewater Region planning committee meeting, Mr. Nicholson had an opportunity to speak to council regarding the upcoming public meeting.
Chief Administrative Officer Christine FitzSimons informed council if it wanted to be considered as a delegation, she had to inform the board office by May 9.
Councillor Dave Mackay, who has attended the two public meetings, said, “It seems like it’s a done deal.”
Mayor Hal Johnson agreed, saying, “It seems like it was a foregone conclusion long before anything was started.
“To have that kind of a power within a public system is just mindboggling.
“I definitely suggest we go in front of them.”
The mayor said the Minister of Education should also be informed of what is happening.
“There should have been more effort to try and bring the different entities together,” the mayor said. “They are affecting our whole overview of what we are trying to do in economic development and I don’t think that’s fair of them. That’s undermining our principles.”
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin received no reponse when said he questioned board staff if they had any idea regarding growth and development in the Beachburg area. He said Beachburg Public School is almost at capacity and what would happen when that school is outgrown.
Chief Administrative Officer Christine FitzSimons has sent two emails to the Minister of Education expressing dismay regarding the possible closure of Westmeath Public School, but there has been no response.
Coun. Mackay said to contact Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski to bring this matter up at Parliament.
CAO FitzSimons said MPP Yakabuski was sent a copy of the letter.
Mayor Johnson said throughout the process, the families and students don’t ever seem to enter into the formula.
“I have yet to hear anything that would suggest that what is happening is other than a monetary, bringing everybody into the urban area,” he said. “Again, we lose out.”
Councillor Chris Olmstead is “extremely disappointed in the process,” especially with what occurred at the meeting in Westmeath hosted by the school board. Staff spoke and the public were not allowed to, but could go to the four stations set up and talk to staff and their comments would be recorded and summarized into a report to the trustees.
However, he noted, the report sent to the trustees was not a summary, it was just a list of the comments, concerns and questions asked at the four stations.
“There was no reply to any of the comments,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s extremely disappointing, it’s a very closed, tight-lipped approach.”
Coun. Olmstead said three months is not enough time to investigate any opportunity to help fill the school.
“I have to wonder if it was a foregone conclusion,” he said. “Everything they said that night, they discussed it in the past tensed, as if the school was closed.
“I don’t think there was any regard for public opinion, the families, young children,” he said.
Mr. Nicholson said many people now feel the staff is just going through the motions of filling the requirements in the student review… public meeting, check; get comments, check.
He doesn’t believe people are going to be happy with the decision that will be made on May 31.
Mr. Nicholson said the 12-week timeline is supposed to be in support of rural communities.
“Well, 12 weeks is not enough time for a municipality, let alone volunteer community members, to come together and counter a school board’s proposal,” he said. “That involvement should have been years ago.”
The future of Cobden and Beachburg’s schools could also be in jeopardy, Mr. Nicholson said.
“The problem with the policy is it gives the school boards all of the power to influence the future of the municipality and takes it all away from you,” he said. “You are left to pick up the pieces after they’ve made the decision.”
The ministry’s policy states the community should be a participant in the decision-making, but that’s not happening, he said.
“A delegation on May 16, while it’s important and I encourage participation from the council, is too much too late,” Mr. Nicholson said. “We need to get involved earlier.”
He recalled a conversation with a staff person regarding the economics of the school board and was told if it was just a numbers game, Beachburg would be closed and the students would be bussed to Pembroke because there are a lot of vacant seats in the Pembroke schools.
“Has that kind of information been mentioned to you,” he questioned. “Are you aware of that?
“It frustrates the heck out of me that here we are trying to create a recreation centre of Whitewater, natural resources…and they’re taking our kids and going to send them away.”
Mayor Johnson said it appears the school board is taking the rural children out of their communities and sending them to the urban areas. There is another mandate they are being pushed to follow, he said.
He questioned if it wouldn’t make more sense to bus the students to Westmeath from Pembroke instead of going the other way.
“I’m asking a question that is extremely important to this municipality,” the mayor said. “I feel very firm that we are going to have to step up to the plate and take charge of our municipality. We collect all their money, we take a great deal of flak for the tax bills, we need some say.”
Councillor Charlene Jackson said it’s important council be heard as a smaller municipality that is trying to bring people into the municipality. With no schools, people will not come, she said.
“I’m certainly in support of moving forward and I hope we can get some information to the Ministry to change their way of doing business when it comes to closing down schools,” she said. “We need to ensure that our MPP is aware that the council is in favour of going to the May 16 meeting and see what he can do to gain access to the Ministry of Education in Toronto.”
Coun. McLaughlin noted if Westmeath school is closed, that would mean half the public schools in Whitewater Region have been closed by the Renfrew County District School Board.
Mr. Nicholson stressed to council the importance of a fundamental problem with the process, and that’s that council was not involved.
“The lack of your involvement is the issue,” he said. “Closing Westmeath and sending the students to Westmeath, maybe you might have thought of that. But not being involved causes more problems.”
Coun. Olmstead recalled when the Foresters Falls school closed. It hurt the area economically, because the businesses began to shut down right after the closure.
“Anybody who thinks this just impacts families with school-aged children are mistaken,” he said. “This affects the entire community.”
Following the meeting, Mr. Nicholson said the fight now is to appeal to the trustees larger sense of responsibility.
“The provincial guidelines that are being set by the Ministry of Education don’t allow them to consider economic development,” he said. “Their priority has to be the students and when they look at it from that perspective, they’re trying to save money to educate as many students as they can. What’s the cost? The cost comes out of the community.”
Mr. Nicholson said he is making a presentation at the May 16 board meeting and remains hopeful there will be a lot of people making a delegation. However, he said, “Unfortunately, we’ve lost a lot of momentum just because of that report that was issued by the school board. The report really made them feel as if what they were saying wasn’t being considered.”
He was disappointed when he read the report that only listed the comments.
“I thought they could have done a better job of it, at least acknowledging, because some of those recommendations were sound,” he said. “Instead, they just dismissed it all and said the recommendation stands.”
A frustrated Neil Nicholson
I still believe that we can influence the School Board Trustees, however the process and the lack of time has hampered our ability to generate actionable alternative options for them to consider.
I found the recent draft report not to be an actual report that could be given to a Board of Trustees—it’s just a list of public comments. Where are the staff/advisor comments or considerations about some of the specifics raised? By just stating that their recommendation does not change without at least some other comments, it feels as though they have dismissed all the public comments.
I am frustrated that the Ministry of Education policy allows for these fast tracked modified accommodation reviews to take place specially with respect to rural schools. This 12-week process does not include the support of a superintendent-led committee to help the public to actually investigate and offer true alternatives. Our community and our township is left to fend for ourselves, with the exception of a single public meeting where the school board staff generated a list of our concerns.
I am frustrated that our township was broadsided by the announcement to consolidate schools. I realize it is not a school board’s responsibility to worry about economic development or the future viability of a community or township, but their decision to close a rural school and their power to impact the future of this community is significant. I find it to be irresponsible of our higher government to delegate this decision to just the school board. I do appreciate that it is necessary to spend our tax money responsibly but in a rural setting, where the school is such an integral part of the community, it needs to be a collaborate planning process. Why are the four school boards not forced by the province to at least work with the township’s economic development plan by keeping rural youth in their communities? We already export kids out of the township to support two other elementary school boards and for all high schoolers. Why are they all not part of a five-year planning process to invest in our future? If we don’t refocus this process to support rural Ontario, there is a chance that soon all kids will be bussed to large central institutions, and rural Ontario will be retirees and a few family farms.
I am frustrated that we have two schools in our community from two different boards that house over 100 students, yet we are prepared to ship half of them out of our community. Could we not work together to share key staff? Couldn’t one principal and one secretary cover 100 students? This could save the school boards and the province $100,000. Again, it feels as though the decision making process is out of our hands. The school board retains the power to influence the future of rural community youth, more so than the township itself. Yet, by virtue of the Ministry of Education’s grants and policies, the school boards are forced to do this analysis within the confines of each school board’s student base, guided by financial incentives that tend to urbanize education.
I am frustrated that this argument has boiled down to saving $208,000 a year. I agree that it is a substantial sum that no one can afford to “lose” each year, however have we really explored all the possible ways to reduce this “loss”? The solutions are those seen through the eyes of one school board: the school board has vacancies 12 kilometres away at Beachburg Public School where it believes it can provide a better level of education while saving money; the school board will meet ministry of education statistics and decrease vacancies in schools while also saving money; the school board will be able to reallocate excess portables or sell them off. Even if there were ways to reduce this $208,000 (partner with Catholic Board or appeal for unique grants to support the 110 year old school building infrastructure), the school board achieves more savings through consolidation. The impacts though are borne by the community and the township.
Our SOS committee does not assume to know what is best for the future of our community or the township. We are only fearful that the closure of Westmeath Public School will mark an irreversible change that will contribute to the outward migration of Westmeath. This could, in turn, affect the future of Our Lady of Grace School, forcing it too to be examined for consolidation with a school outside the community. If this potential downward effect is not considered before we start closing schools we are afraid that we will have missed the opportunity to positively affect the future of our rural area. We are asking that this obviously tremendously important decision is assessed within a much broader scope, over a period of time that allows thoughtful and long-term planning, and includes more than a single school board. For the future of our community we believe we need to develop a plan for our entire rural community, one that would include both the public and separate, French and English school boards working together. We are seeing more and more of our school aged children attending schools outside of their community for a variety of reasons, including access to daycare, bus transportation, and second language instruction. We do not want to continue to hollow out rural Ontario by slowly siphoning youth and young families to more urban centers. We want them to stay, to bring their businesses, to grow our area so that we can all take reap the benefits from rural community life.
