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Students urge trustees to save their schools last Wednesday.

Trustees unable to reach decision Monday

Next round at call of the chair

BY Trina Berlo, staff June 23, 2009 13:06

Simcoe County District School Board trustees went round and round on Monday night, unable to agree on a solution regarding the fate of five area high schools.

Trustees adjourned the meeting after four-and-a-half hours and will continue the discussion at a later date.

The administration centre in Midhurst was packed Monday and monitored by three security guards.

The crowd applauded and booed throughout the night and board chair Diane Firman threatened to clear the room several times.

Trustee Brad Saunders, who represents Midland, Penetanguishene, Wasaga Beach and Tiny, was unable to garner support for his motion to accept a modified version of the recommendations made by the accommodation review committee, which would see all five high schools including those in Stayner, Elmvale and Penetanguishene, remain open and build a growth school in Wasaga Beach once it has 700 students.

Orillia trustee Debra Edwards then brought the recommendations of staff back to the table.

Edwards said, as a package, staff recommendations to close high schools in Stayner, Elmvale and Penetanguishene and build a high school central to Elmvale and Wasaga Beach, makes sense.

A request was made to separate the recommendations and deal with each one individually but they were unable to get through the first one.

Hours later, having picked at the recommendation, amending amendment after amendment, there was not enough support to close Stayner Collegiate Institute, Penetanguishene Secondary School or Elmvale District High School.

Trustees grappled with circumstances that would create more empty seats in area high schools rather than remove excess capacity, which is what the entire process is intended to do.

To build a central high school for Wasaga Beach and Elmvale would mean withdrawing hundreds of Wasaga Beach students from Collingwood Collegiate Institute, which would in turn force the closure of Stayner Collegiate Institute to top up the vacancies.

Some trustees say it doesn't make sense to move those students when it is Midland Secondary School that is suffering from the lowest enrolment.

Meanwhile, Wasaga Beach residents, desperate for a high school in their community, are dependent on the closure of Stayner Collegiate Institute to make it a possibility and trustees have shown little support, saying it doesn't make sense to close the only school that has projected growth.

They also seemed frustrated by the fact that no matter what trustees decide the board is at the mercy of the Ministry of Education to approve the decision and dish out the funds.

"There will be no funding and that is a reality," said trustee Donna Armstrong.

The discussion was a continuation of last Wednesday's regular board meeting, when other items dominated the agenda and trustees did not have time to discuss the issue.

The debate continues at the next meeting, at the call of the chair.

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