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Mississauga News - Jan. 25, 2012 - By John Stewart - with files from Roger Belgrave - jle@mississauga.net
Five schools to close
Something to say.
Richard Barter, chair of the parent council at Hillside Middle School,
wants the money the board makes in selling off school buildings to go towards improving facilities at Hillside.
Staff photo by Rob Beintema
After a lengthy review process, Peel District School Board trustees have voted unanimously to close three schools in Erin Mills and two in Park Royal.
The 16 recommendations were approved last night after the board heard deputations from citizens, some of whom said the process to examine neighbourhoods, which are experiencing declining enrolment, is a guaranteed recipe for closures.
Dan Anderson, a Park Royal resident who was involved in the process when Park Royal School was closed three decades ago, complained there was no attempt to consider viable alternatives to the recommendations for closures.
He called the process “insular and biased,” adding that “the focus is on maximizing the number of school closures.”
The only other deputation about the closures came from Richard Barter, chair of the parent council at Hillside Middle School, the only one of three schools in Park Royal slated to remain open.
“Nobody’s happy about that,” Barter said. He suggested the community deserves to get something back from the process.
Barter suggested that the money the board makes in selling off any or all of the five school buildings and sites that are now surplus should go "100 per cent" to the improvement of facilities at Hillside.
The board will negotiate with the City of Mississauga to acquire property beside Hillside, which is to be expanded to become a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school. It will accommodate students coming from Elmcrest and Willow Glen Schools, which are closing.
As many of the teachers as possible who work at those two schools should be transferred to Hillside to maintain continuity for the children, Barter said. He wants to see a "modern" school, with programs of choice for parents and students.
As well as the Park Royal schools, Ashgrove, King’s Masting and Pheasant Run elementary schools are closing in Erin Mills.
Ashgrove students will be redirected to Garthwood Public School, with King's Masting kids going to Brookmede and Pheasant Run students to Sawmill Valley Public School.
Most Grades 6-8 students in those communities will attend Erin Mills Middle School near South Common Mall.
Wards 2 and 8 Trustee Brad MacDonald, who minds the ward where all the schools are located, said the experience has been an emotional "roller coaster."
The recommendations, however, are what is "best suited for the community," MacDonald said. The two communities should be rejuvenated as a result, he said.
Board Chair Janet McDougald, who has also been through similar closures in her Mississauga ward, defended the school closing process as the most responsible thing for the community and the taxpayers.
McDougald insisted the process is open and transparent and gives everyone an opportunity for input. “It’s done in the best interest of students,” she said.
The five schools are scheduled to close by June 2013 at the earliest.
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