HomeMy WebLinkAbout10d Delegation Cynthia Pohran re Long Term Accommodation Plan00
OTTAWA - CARLETON ASSEMBLY OF SCHOOL COUNCILS
DELEGATION TO THE BOARD
DATE: Monday, June 26, 2000
TOPIC: OCDSB Long -term Accommodation Plan
Presenters: Cynthia Pohran - Chair of OCASC
On Monday, June 12 2000 the Board received Report No. 00 -131 referred to as
"Preliminary Information" on the long -term accommodation plan. As stated in the
report, staff has been in the process of developing background work on a long -term
capital plan, and intends to bring forward such a plan for Board consideration in
September 2000. School Councils were informed of the September timeline, and were
prepared to provide input accordingly.
Staff also identified the elements that would be required by the Ministry to produce a
report for "Accountability Framework for Pupil Accommodation ". In addition, staff
identified that further analysis is required before it can recommend an appropriate
response for the serious accommodation issues in Longfields /Davidson Heights, the City
of Kanata, and the Townships of Goulbourn, Osgoode and West Carleton.
After outlining these outstanding issues, the staff report recommended a $7.8 M
expenditure for a Longfields /Davidson Heights elementary school that Board
subsequently approved on June 12, 2000. This recommendation, in spite of the fact
that staff had identified its inability to adequately address the accommodation issue in
this very area. In other words, even though staff provided background on the Board's
eligibility for Grants for New Pupil Places (GNPP) and the rules surrounding the use of
E.D.C. funds, the recommendation contained in Report No. 00 -131 was presented to
Trustees in isolation of the TOTAL capital priorities faced by the OCDSB.
The Ottawa - Carleton Assembly of School Councils will not argue the wisdom behind this
recommendation, but it is concerned with the lack of due process that was followed for
this agenda item. Not only did the report by -pass the usual Business Services
Committee, it was submitted without significant data that, we believe, would have put
the recommendation in perspective (i.e. priority list of capital expenditures with
estimated sources and amounts of revenue).
In addition, the report was presented to Board prior to the deadline for submission of
information from stakeholders (i.e. September 2000). Even though it was identified as
an "information item ", it contained a recommendation which totally blind -sided our
members and your constituents. OCASC understands that we are playing on a "shifting
field" with regard to the government and its Ministry of Education. We also understand
that various steps must be undertaken in order to build a school for a September 2001
opening date.
And we also realize that the decision to act on the staff recommendation was left in the
hands of Trustees. The Board could have referred, deferred or otherwise disposed of
the recommendation. It was even noted that a delegation from the Longfields /Davidson
Heights community was allowed to present before the Board without following the usual
protocol of booking a delegation before the agenda package was printed and distributed
OCASC would like to speak to the obvious lack of transparency and fairness with these
issues. It begins with the inclusion of the report on the Board agenda, the misleading
title of the report, the lack of supporting information and data which would provide a
priority list, and the lack of notice for other school communities to present to the Board
on this agenda item.
Such actions breed confusion and mistrust within the stakeholder groups. The school
communities whose growth and maintenance issues were not addressed are upset and
have communicated their bewilderment at the sudden change in the "rules of the game ".
Even the credibility of OCASC is at stake as we have communicated timelines on your
behalf that have now seemed to disappear.
OCASC will come before the Board on June 26 asking for an explanation regarding the
points raised herein and offering some suggestions regarding consultation and process.