HomeMy WebLinkAbout10c Delegation Kevin O'Shea re J. S. Woodsworth School ClosurePresentation by Kevin O'Shea, JSW parent
The presentation will present the argument that Report No. 02 -080, the school closures study,
constrained by time and scope as outlined in Report 02 -055 that proposed the timelines, and as
evident in the resulting study, has been unable to address the issue of school closures properly,
and so the recommendations should not be accepted.
Problems with the Process
- focus on haste with minimum number of avenues pursuable
- significant aspects excluded from consideration
- large difference from previous thorough study of the problem
Capacity considerations not just
- area groupings somewhat arbitrary for topic
- exclusion of main problem areas in board
- worse areas dismissed quickly
- stats for JSW's area is dragged down by one school
- McHugh usage at Laurentian not taken into account
- no capacity problem at JSW
Focus of study constrained to school closure
- no time allowed for more creative solutions to over - capacity
- no consideration of multi- campus sharing
- no consideration of reducing capacity at problem schools
- single focus on what constitutes "good" target capacity goals
Quality of education /school at JSW was ignored completely
- as many others have attested
- as statistics prove
- community spirit
- sought by students that have variances to attend JSW
- music program
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- inside the community, walking to school
- "impact on community" mentions only facility hours
- redirection reverses variances that have been granted already
- Quality of recommended redirections not fully included in impact (e.g., Laurentian's
problems)
Reliance on debatable "Large is better" ideal
- OCSSAN conclusion used out of context
- numerous studies prove the contrary re: quality of education
- security issue
- New Vision has broader scope of what is goal
Financial arguments are questionable
- scraping for $1 M when $50M is being argued with province
- not clear if closing secondary school does anything for new space grants
- does not appear to account for increases in certain costs at receiving schools
- simple fundraiser could generate just as much
Timing is extremely poor
- stress on double cohort
- messes up those who have mid -year plans for semestered program
- loss of OAC year may mean more juggling later — need wider study
Limitations on study has lead to flaws in approach
- Impact is not fully stated
- avoids relocation of special programs and then relocates some
- disruption of students, staff, programs glossed over
- avoids disrupting 300 students, yet recommends disrupting twice that
- rushes recommendations although other avenues avoided for more study
- Ridgemount related redirections used as rationale yet independent of JSW closure
- of the 7 points of ratonale r
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1 picks area under questionable reasoning
1 targets JSW which does not have a problem
2 are not tied to JSW
1 talks about positive effect on Laurentian, no balance with negative on JSW
2 rely on OCSSAN idea of ideal school size, taken out of context, debatable
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