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.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
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