HomeMy WebLinkAbout11b Notice of Motion Trustee Libbet re Re-opening of Two Portables at W. Erskine Johnston•
OTTAWA- CARLETON
DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
TO: Chair and Members DATE: 9 September 2002
of the Board
Re: Re- opening of Two Portables at W Erskine Johnston
Trustee Libbey has given notice that he will move as follows at the Board meeting
on 9 September 2002:
THAT the two portables at W. Erskine Johnston P S that were recently closed be
reopened and put at the disposal of the Principal.
Note: The rationale for the motion is provided in the attached letter from the Chair of
the School Council.
Joan Melancon
Assistant Secretary of the Board
Ron Lynch
Interim Director of Education/
Secretary of the Board
S
I am contacting you in my capacity as Chair of the W. Erskine Johnston School Council
here in Kanata to confirm a discussion which we had last week. At some point over the summer,
Board staff entered two of the portables on our site and removed the furniture from them. The
items which the teachers had left in the portables were stacked on the floor and left for them to
collect and re- organize at the end of August.
As you are aware, our school is probably the most over - crowded school in the board
(capacity of 473.5; current registration of 778). We have a single -size gymnasium and the
infrastructure of the school generally is stressed by this number of students. The impact on our
school is that we have now lost 2 classrooms which were being used to teach our intermediate
classes French. Last year we had 14 classes of grade 7 and 8 students, this year it is 15. These
classes were used full-time and allowed these students to learn in a French environment. There
was a noticeable difference in the pride that the students took in their French studies while we
had these classes.
Since the two rooms which were closed were not the last ones brought to our site,
following the "last in, first out" procedure which is generally followed in our Board, and the fact
that there has been no communication that these portables are being moved, I suspect that they
will sit there empty throughout the school year. Our school is willing to cover the costs of
heating and lighting these rooms, so I fail to see why they cannot continue to be used to teach
intermediate French.
I received a telephone call on Friday from Ms. McAlister, our new Superintendent, to
discuss this problem. She has committed to look into the situation and get back to me early in the
week. Will keep you informed. If you can facilitate the process in any way, the parents at WEJ
will be very grateful. Thank you.
Beverley Graham
Chair
W. Erskine Johnston P.S.