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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 12, 2008 - 3 Back to the drawing board Public school board will build new school in Clearview, but will reconsider school closures in southeast Oakville By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Halton District School Board decided Wednesday night to reconsider what schools will be closed in southeast Oakville. The board voted on July 2 to close Brantwood, Linbrook, Chisholm and New Central public schools and build a school in Clearview. The two remaining southeast Oakville schools, E. J. James and Maple Grove, would be renovated. While the fate of the schools will be reexamined, the board did approve the construction of a new Clearview JK-8 school, which is slated to open September 2010. The board's decision is a direct result of a report released last Friday by the Ministry of Education. Former education minister Dave Cooke was appointed to create the report as a result of a petition received by the Ministry of Education in July 2008 asking for a review of the board's decision. Cooke's report is not binding, as the Ministry of Education has no authority to overturn school closure decisions or delay their implementation. Wayne Joudrie, director of education, said the board took Cooke's comments seriously. The recommendations passed at Wednesday's meeting that were in response to the report demonstrate the board's commitment to the community, he said. "The main reason that the board approved the recommendations, and I generated them to begin with, was an act of goodwill with the community," Joudrie told The Oakville Beaver. "A third party, independent facilitator came in, did a review and identified a couple of areas that were of particular concern, and for us to ignore them wouldn't be appropriate. We are a public body and we need to look at recommendations, particularly when they come from a third party, unbiased perspective." The board passed four recommendations Wednesday night in response to Cooke's report. Besides constructing a new school in Clearview and suspending the implementation of the July 2 decision, the board also approved a recommendation to develop a community consultation process to explore alternate solutions. The board will work with the Ministry of Education to develop a process that will include timelines, representation and alternative accommodation options. A draft of how this process will work is expected to be presented by board staff before the end of "We are interested in dealing with this appropriately, so if it takes a little more time, we'd rather get it right. In an ideal world, we would have this resolved by summer break, but again, there are a lot of pieces that need to fall into place before that could happen." Wayne Joudrie, Halton District School Board, director of education January. Joudrie told the Beaver he does not want to rush the consultation process, declining to comment on a possible format for the process or a timeline. He said a final decision on accommodation needs of students in southeast Oakville could possibly be made by the end of June. "We are interested in dealing with this appropriately, so if it takes a little more time, we'd rather get it right," he said. "In an ideal world, we would have this resolved by summer break, but again, there are a lot of pieces that need to fall into place before that could happen." The fourth recommendation passed at Wednesday's meeting was that Joudrie will present a report to the board by the end of January that will respond to Cooke's findings. Oakville Residents for Public Education (ORPE), the group that coordinated the request for an administrative review by the Province, is satisfied the board is taking action in response to Cooke's report. "We welcome the decision to suspend the closure decision," said ORPE spokesperson Mark Caskenette. "We're happy the board has clearly signaled that they want to fix the process and, I hope, ensure that the ultimate decision can garner the support of the community." Caskenette said there is still too much uncertainty around the upcoming consultation process. He said if the board outlines exactly what it is looking for from the outset, then an appropriate course of action can be determined. "We still have some concerns there is a lot of fuzziness around the process that will move forward," Caskenette said. "I think for our community, we would like to see an open and transparent process. We still believe it would be useful from both our and the board's perspective, to have a third party, independent facilitator manage the discussion. " Caskenette said the board should take its time crafting the process proposal. "We would like to see that it is not a hastily developed process, but one that does meet all the elements that Cooke outlines in his report," he said. Once the proposal is established, Caskenette proposed that the actual process not last as long as PARC PE14, which met regularly about the accommodation issue from May 2007 through to March 2008. "I think an abbreviated process would be suitable to the community," Caskenette said. "I can't imagine people wanting to spend another year going through this." Clearview Oakville Community Alliance (COCA), Clearview's ratepayers association, is happy with the board's decision to go ahead with a new school, according to president Michelle Sloane. "The Clearview community is pleased with the final decision to build a school in Clearview," Sloane said. "We are thankful that the construction will not be dependent on an accommodation review in the balance of Ward 3. We are excited to begin our journey to a new school in Clearview and are excited that our children will have the opportunity for a brand new, modern school with the best programming available." Joudrie said supporting the construction of the Clearview school was a decision made based on Cooke's report. "It was reflected in Mr. Cooke's submission and very clearly he outlined that Clearview students should be educated in a school in Clearview," he said. Although it is not known how many schools will be closed in southeast Oakville, the board specified a 500-student school for Clearview in its approved recommendation Wednesday night. 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