Move past blame to find solutions

This article was written for the PCMH series in the Barrie Examiner.


This summer I took part in a unique workshop put on by the Parents for Children’s Mental Health. Participants were forced into uncomfortable conditions, then ordered to write answers. A normally simple task became impossible, because our seats were awkwardly-placed or uncomfortable, our pencils were sticky and slimy, there was loud static noise being played, the “teacher” was speaking quickly and critically, etc. The intent was to simulate the kinds of challenges people face at school or work when they have a mental illness or learning disability.

The good news was that our disability was temporary, the discomfort brief. And since it was just an exercise, not a real job or class, we had the option to wait it out, knowing there would be no repercussions. But earlier this year I experienced a similar situation which was not so brief, and could not be escaped at will.

Back in March, just before leaving on a family vacation, an ear infection became a ruptured ear drum. My left ear was in excruciating pain and I could not hear from it; worse, the roaring sound made it hard to hear from my other ear. I couldn’t see a family doctor before we left, so I didn’t know what to expect, how long it might last, or what problems it might cause.

It was really bad for a few days, and took weeks to heal. During that time I experienced the challenges of an invisible disability, just like we experienced in the exercise. Often I could not understand people, especially if they had an accent. I might not even know they were talking to me, unless I was looking at them. My “phone ear” was blown, so taking notes on the phone became harder. Any background noise was amplified, making it hard to hear with my good ear. I couldn’t tell if I was speaking too quietly or too loudly.

The worst was that no-one could see the problem. They would not realize I hadn’t heard, or didn’t understand what they were saying. Simple tasks like ordering food or getting directions became fraught with peril, as a critical point was miscommunicated. I would come across as rude or inattentive, and not even know I was offending someone.

This experience deeply affected me, and repeating those struggles at the PCMH workshop really put it into focus. For people with an illness or disability affecting their perception, concentration, or communication, the standard classroom (or office) situation won’t work. What is normal and easy for us is for them a strain at best, an insurmountable challenge at worst.

While our classroom and work situations are designed to satisfy the average person’s needs, many people are outside this “average”. If the setup does not work for them, they will probably get stressed, frustrated, and upset, and those feelings will influence their reactions. Students with classroom problems may anger and misbehave, or detach and ignore their lessons. Then we blame them for it, without understanding that it’s not of their choice. Before condemning someone as “stupid”, “disobedient”, or a “troublemaker”, we really need to understand what is going on. It may be a normal human reaction to an intolerable situation.

Understanding different needs and learning styles is critical for a successful education system. Teachers can do this, but only if we give them the space. When you have too many students, you can’t give each the time it takes to find their right path. And when frustration leads to misbehaviour, that takes away even more time, in a vicious circle. When students with behavioural issues are dumped with those who have an identified learning disability, problems only worsen for everyone.

An education system for all our children must be able to know each of them, to find their special needs, and provide suitable systems or routines. It must be tolerant when things go wrong, understanding that most of us really want success but face obstacles or feelings that can get in our way. Whenever I see a situation of miscommunication or dispute, I recall my temporary invisible disability and remember how problems arose through no-one’s fault. We must move past blame to understanding and solutions.

Associate Director moves on

Yesterday it was announced that Carol McAulay, Associate Director of the Simcoe County District School Board, has been appointed Vice-President, Administration, for Laurentian University, effective February 14, 2011.

Since she is the person responsible for buildings and facilities, she has a huge role in the ARC and school closure, building, and re-building process. She is not an official ARC member but many of the ARC queries relate directly to her portfolio.

It's too soon to tell how this staff change (her replacement is not yet named) might affect the process or the staff's attitude towards school closures vs. rebuilding.

Update on Board's true requests for funding (FOI results)

This article was written for Root Issues in the Barrie Examiner; published under the title "ARC timing will teach new trustees a lesson". It reports on the findings from my FOI request, which indicate that our board was not wery energetic in asking for BCC funding even when they claimed it was a top priority. More information to follow in coming days.

The future of Barrie’s downtown remains imperiled as the threat of Central Collegiate’s closure looms closer.

And for the first time, I retract something from an earlier column. Last April, I criticized MPP Aileen Carroll for securing funding for a secondary school in Essa, yet failing to do the same for Barrie Central. In her defense, Carroll has gone on record that it was the Essa school, not Central, which Simcoe School Board officials asked her to champion, so she did. This created a discrepancy: Board staff and Trustees have consistently maintained that rebuilding Central was their top capital priority during that time.

To reconcile this, I filed a Freedom of Information request to see just what the Board had lobbied for through our MPP. Was their messaging ambiguous? This week I got the response, and it confirms Carroll’s statement precisely. In the March 2008 meeting, the Board specifically asked her to lobby for Essa school funding, and only “shared thoughts” about a downtown secondary/elementary school.

It’s become clear over the last year that the Board is committed to closing Central instead of trying to rebuild; this new information indicates the attitude goes back further, to the time when a Central re-do was supposedly Job One.

Which brings us to now. A community consultation process called an accommodation review committee (ARC) began in September and is due to report in March. It may decide to endorse the staff option presented last month which recommends closing Central, sending students to other over-capacity schools in Barrie, hoping the Ministry of Education will then fund a brand new growth school to the south. Or, in theory, the ARC could come up with a plan for repairing or rebuilding Central, delaying the need for new schools until expansion lands are actually developed and populated.

But there’s a serious catch to this theory: the Ministry needs the board’s capital priorities expressed now, not next spring. The request can be revised in January 2011, but the ARC won’t report until March. How can the ARC recommend keeping Central open if the window for capital requests is closed? The staff option, supposedly unofficial and not in effect until the ARC reports and the Trustees decide, is already driving the capital requests which will determine Central’s fate.

At this point I don’t believe it’s enough to attend ARC meetings and let the process run its course. The timing seems to deny the ARC any chance of providing an option to keep all our 5 Barrie high schools open. The newly-elected Trustees must re-examine the ARC timing, provide more complete information, and keep options open with the Ministry rather than prejudicing funding requests against Central’s future.

Thanks to Barrie for great support

Thank you to the many people who asked me to run, then provided volunteer & financial support, hosted signs, and cast ballots.

Our incumbent Sue Ley will return as area 1 Trustee. The fight to save Central and our other schools continues, you must all keep the pressure on. The final decisions rest with the Board, and with 2 new Barrie trustees, perhaps the winds can shift.

I will keep this site open for a few more days to post the information that the Board will provide me today in response to my Freedom of Information request.

Special congratulations to our Mayor-elect Jeff Lehman for his powerful showing at the polls. He now has a strong mandate to craft a real plan for Barrie, and for his already clearly-expressed support for Central and our other schools. I hope the new Council recognize this, and that the Board's arms are truly open to partnership offers.

Elect Erich to Help Save Central - and ALL our Schools

Bob Bruton, senior reporter at the Barrie Examiner, made a clear request today to voters: pay attention to the candidates for public school board trustee, and support those who are commited to saving Barrie Central and have a plan to do so.

If you agree with Bob, then I am your choice for Area 1. I am committed to saving Barrie Central, and beyond that, to changing the direction of the board which has seen a series of closures of older schools and seems headed further down that same road, with Barrie North and Eastview the next targets.

Of course, this is not something that one trustee, or even three Barrie trustees, can accomplish alone. It will take a wide range of partnerships. The opportunities are there, but our Board and our current Area 1 trustee are not taking full advantage of them. This is, in fact, why I am seeking election as your Area 1 representative. My first goal will be to form strategic alliances with other voting trustees, and follow-up on the many ideas and opportunities which have been pouring in from the wider community.

The City of Barrie has clearly expressed interest and even commitment to helping keep our downtown schools open - first Prince of Wales, and more recently Barrie Central. We are in an election now, and many of the candidates who will form the next council have reiterated those same promises of support. So that potential partnership is already primed, just waiting for the Board to respond.

Our MP Patrick Brown has repeatedly expressed willingness to help with whatever federal funding or initiatives he can find. Last week he phoned me personally to express willingness to work with me to save Central.

Our MPP Aileen Carroll has gone on record that she will support whatever capital priorities the Board establishes. However, that will depend on what the current trustees decide (which is beyond my influence), and what those elected next week follow up with.

There have also been many expressions of interest from businesses, social agencies, and other organizations in possible partnerships, but the Board has yet to explore these fully.

Barrie is a swing riding provincially, and with a provincial election next year there is a great opportunity for Barrie voters to put pressure on the McGuinty government to provide needed funding. However, that will require outreach to the public. For the past year, I have already been working to keep this issue in the public eye through my Root Issues column at the Barrie Examiner. Our previous elected Trustee, the late Mary Anne Wilson, was also very vocal on this issue. We need a Trustee who will follow in her footsteps.

There is also the serious issue of the conflicting statements about their intention for Barrie Central that have come from the board. Because our current trustees do not seem to have acted to clarify this issue, I have filed official requests to try and bring the facts to light. As your Trustee I will ensure that decisions about Barrie Central (and other schools) are always transparent.

Finally, I will ensure that our schools are no longer unfairly starved of funds for upkeep and repair. Over the past 6 years, the amount of funding provided to each of Barrie's 5 high schools tells a damning story. Since 2005, here is how much has been spent at each secondary school on refit or upgrade projects: Innisdale $1.6 million, Barrie North $3.3 million, Bear Creek $6.2 million, and Eastview $7.2 million! How much was spent in this period at Barrie Central? Less than one million dollars. (Figures available here, under the "Value to the Board" section).

Although the train seems to be racing down the track towards closing Central, the final decision rests with the Board. Opportunities exist to save BCC and prevent the extra strain that will fall on Barrie's other high schools (espeically North and Eastview) if it closes. I will work hard to help the Board capitalize on those opportunities and follow the community's clearly expressed desire to preserve and maintain, rather than close, our excellent schools.

Issue: Contradictory Statements

NEW: My initiative on this issue has been reported in the Barrie Advance. Twice.

Update: Laurie Watt's new Barrie Advance article notes that the 2008 and 2009 capital plans are very inconsistent when it comes to their statements about and predictions for Barrie Central Collegiate student population and repair situation. Compare page 12 of this document with page 20 of this one. A lot seems to have changed in just one year!

Right now there is a major unresolved issue which speaks the transparency, or rather lack of it, amongst our elected officials.

In 2008, the Ministry of Education asked each School Board to create and present a list of their capital priorities - existing schools which needed to be refurbished or rebuilt, or new schools that needed to be built. The Simcoe County board created such a list, and the top listed priority was to rebuild Barrie Central Collegiate (BCC).

However, instead of funding that, the Ministry funded a new high school in Essa township, which was number 5 on our priority list.

Our MPP, Aileen Carroll, has repeatedly stated that she met with top members of the Board and they conveyed to her that their top priority was the Essa school, so she advocated successfully for that funding.

Since then, trustees and the Associate Director have continued to state that the Board's top priority was then, and for the year after, to rebuild BCC.

Something doesn't add up. Assuming our MPP is telling the truth (and that's what I believe), then there must have been mixed messages coming to her from the Board. How did this happen? As a trustee, I would demand an answer to this question.

When our MPP Aileen Carroll recently published a letter citing specific meetings with top board officials, I filed a Freedom of Information request to access whatever minutes, notes, or reports might exist pertaining to those meetings. If messages the Board are giving behind closed doors don't match those they are giving in public, then there is a serious problem and we are not being fairly represented.

This is not an issue about Barrie Central, it's an issue about transparency, honesty, and consistency - all of which we have a right to expect from our Board, and which you will receive from me as your Trustee. Until then, if the FOI request provides documentation to shed light on this discrepancy, I will report it here.

Endorsement a Recognition of Dedication to Community

The Barrie Advance has recognized my dedication to the community and my accomplishments at building successful alliances by endorsing me for Trustee of Area 1.

As they note, "[Erich] is eager to get to work and is already looking at the issues regarding the closure of Barrie Central Collegiate."

I thank them for their consideration and wish the best to all other candidates in all races, endorsed or not.

Issue: Active and Safe Routes to School

One of the simplest, cheapest, yet most important things a student can do is walk (or bike) to school every day.

Walking is good for health - it provides a strong foundation of regular daily physical activity, promoting healthy physical development and good lifetime habit-building.

It is good for education - children who walk or bike to school arrive more alert and ready to learn than those who ride in a bus or car.

It is good for the budget - the costs to the school board are lowest for walking children. They don't require buses or bus drivers, and unlike children who are driven to school by parents, they don't require parking places or cause smog from idling vehicles. (Although good, secure bike racks should be made available).

Walking to school should be the basic pattern in an urban environment. However, our school board seems to be on a trend of closing smaller, older, local schools and busing children to newer, larger ones. I believe this is not good for the health or education of our children. As a member of Barrie's Active Transportation Working Group and Committee and of Living Green, I have already been working to help promote a safe walking and cycling environment for several years, and as your Trustee I will advocate for smaller, more local schools and for the promotion of safe routes for students to get themselves there.

Issue: School Maintenance

Over recent years a distressing trend has appeared. Our public schools are being allowed to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance and upgrading. Then, rather than repair or rebuild them, the schools are closed and the children sent to newer ones further away.

So far, we have seen this happen in Barrie with King Edward and Prince of Wales, and the same fate threatens Barrie Central Collegiate. But that's not the end of it; many of our elementary schools are also heading toward what is often called "prohibitive to repair" status, as are two more of our high schools: Barrie North and Eastview. Will the board allow that to happen to them, as well?

I can't believe that allowing schools to fall apart, then building new ones elsewhere, is sound management of your tax dollars. I also can't believe that we expect students to study, and teachers to teach, as their facilities deteriorate to unacceptable levels. What kind of message does that send?

As your trustee, I will work to ensure that our schools are properly maintained. There is funding available to upgrade schools or introduce "green" technology to reduce energy costs. I will work hard to see that Barrie and Simcoe County schools get at least their share of this available funding. We should be building new schools to accommodate growing population, not because we've let the old ones fall apart.

Issue: High School ARC

Barrie's five High Schools (Innisdale, Eastview, Bear Creek, Barrie North, Barrie Central) are currently in an Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) process. This process will determine attendance boundaries, school sizes, and even which schools will close, remain open, be built or re-built. It will have far-reaching consequences, and is of critical importance to the future of secondary education in Barrie.

Unfortunately, this process has begun on weak footing. On September 8, at the Board's Building & Facilities meeting, a staff report was presented which recommended that the ARC membership be accepted and the first meeting be on Sept 21. It was accepted despite two major red flags.

First, the membership of the ARC was largely vacant. Of 15 voting members (2 parents and 1 student from each of the 5 schools), fewer than one third had been recruited. Even two weeks later, at the first "working meeting" of the ARC, several positions remained unfilled. It would have been very reasonable to have delayed this first ARC meeting to allow another week or two of recruitment, so that voting members won't have to take part having missed one or more of the early meetings.

Second, the first ARC "working meeting" was scheduled for September 21, the day before the Board meeting (Sept 22) which officially approved the ARC membership and meeting schedule. That means the first "working meeting" took place before the ARC was officially adopted by the Board. Again, a delay would have ensured that this potential procedural impropriety was not an issue. Sadly, the Board ended up breaking their own rules, and this may even become partial grounds to appeal the outcome of the ARC process to the Ministry of Education.

The ARC process is about more than listening, it has to involve active involvement to be successful. As your elected trustee, I will be an active participant in the ARC process.

Vote For a Sustainable School Board

What does it mean to have a sustainable school board?

I am running for the position of Trustee for the public (English) school board in Barrie's Area 1, which encompasses municipal wards 1, 2, & 3. This is an area which, more than most, demonstrates the need for a sustainable perspective on the school board.

We must support a sustainable system, and that's a lot more than environment. To me, it means government must be accessible, transparent, and based on good long-term planning. Those are things I see lacking right now, and I plan, by becoming your Trustee, to address them.

As the spouse of a teacher employed by the Simcoe County District School Board, I have long been aware of the challenges we have in providing teachers with sufficient resources to do their job. Many times we hear of boards who manage to do more with less, yet that message isn't making it through here. The teachers really want to do their best for the students, but often find complicated rules or simple lack of funding in the way.

As a father of young daughters, I know there are many aspects to a sustainable learning environment beyond standard curriculum concerns. For one thing, many studies have shown that not only smaller class sizes, but smaller schools can improve outcomes, diminish learning problems, and lower drop-out rates. Yet our board seems to have a tendency to close smaller, older schools and shift more children to schools with larger populations, even if they have to build portables (a.k.a. modulars) to accommodate them.

And as a citizen of a city which is trying to be a complete community with a functioning downtown, I have long been extremely worried by the signals that come from the Board about our older downtown schools. First King Edward, then Prince of Wales were cut, and now Barrie Central Collegiate seems to be under threat. Both the City and the province want a more complete downtown, including education, but the SCDSB seems to be moving in the opposite direction. This is very disturbing, and needs to be strongly challenged at the Board level.

Of course, my campaign isn't all about downtown schools. Instead, their fate is symptomatic of a general overal failing. Schools are left to age to the point where repairs are deemed prohibitive, and the same tendencies we have seen at KE, PoW, and BCC are in the cards for our other schools if we don't turn that around now. We can't go on allowing our old schools to fall apart, then "solve" it with shiny new schools further out. It simply isn't economically sustainable. We need schools which are built to last, and maintained in top condition.

I believe in healthy students at healthy schools, and the healthiest thing a student can do is walk or bike to school. I believe we need to maintain and build more small, local schools instead of larger ones which require busing. Not only will that mean healthier kids and better outcomes, it will save money on busing, one of the Board's major expenses.