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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 9, 2007 - 5 Aquinas short on funding By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Two months after the province granted the Halton Catholic District School Board $14 million to help in the tear down and reconstruction of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School, trustees continue to have few feasible options as to where the rest of the necessary funds will come from. The light at the end of the tunnel in the St. Thomas Aquinas saga seemed to shine a little less bright during a Tuesday night Halton Catholic District School Board meeting in which staff met with trustees to report great difficulties in getting the $18 million they still require. Superintendent of Facility Management and Services Giacomo A. Corbacio noted that one option being looked into was attaining the funds through New Pupil Place grants, which are given to schools when enrollment is greater than capacity. Currently, enrollment levels at St. Thomas Aquinas are not high enough to warrant such a grant, but as Corbacio pointed out efforts are underway to change this. "Staff is proceeding with a school boundary review process for the Oakville Catholic secondary schools to confirm the number of students to be redirected to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School," he stated in his report to the board. "The school boundary review is not expected to be completed until early 2008." In his report Corbacio specified that staff have specifically looked into the possibility of moving approximately 400 students from Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School and/or Loyola Catholic Secondary School to St. Thomas Aquinas in order to qualify for the needed funds. However, Corbacio was also quick to point out that such an undertaking may not be possible. "Based on the preliminary school attendance boundary scenarios developed to date by the Oakville Secondary Schools School Boundary Review Committee, it may not be feasible or practical to redirect approximately 400 students to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School," he said. As trustees expressed concerns about moving such a large group of students, Director of Education Lou Piovesan pointed out that decisions needed to be made, but that they would not be easy ones. "Right now all we have for sure is $14.3 million, we don't have $32 million and we have a long way to go to get that," he said. "Trustees will have to come to grips with it, because back in April, Trustee Anthony Danko moved a motion that was unanimously adopted by all trustees that we move forward with this project, put a business case together, move whatever students needed to be moved, set up a boundary review committee and all that is being done. You are hearing from Mr. Corbacio who chairs that secondary school boundary review committee that it's going to be quite a challenge to try to move 400 students. We all want the same thing, a new school in south Oakville. There isn't an easy solution to make this happen." Oakville Trustee Ed Viana also raised the concern that students transferring into St. Thomas Aquinas might not be able to enjoy the same programs and opportunities they had at their previous schools. Piovesan responded that given the uncertain future of the school it was difficult to make such promises concerning what new students can expect when they come to St. Thomas Aquinas. Come see our new & exciting fireplace designs now available for the upcoming season 905.569.2404 See Cash page 11 THE REGION'S HEATING, COOLING, INDOOR AIR & DUCT CLEANING EXPERTS Q too good to be true. A I keep hearing about huge rebates but these things can be RODUCT P I really save $2,740 Q Cannew furnace and on A air conditioner? 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