Central parents outraged over classes held in basement

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Central parents outraged over classes held in basement; School board

superintendent says no health-and-safety issue exists

Northumberland Today - Cobourg,Ontario,Canada*

Lloyd

http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?

contentid=597276 & catname=Local%20News & classif=

Some Port Hope parents are outraged their children will be learning

to read, write and do arithmetic next year in a basement that they

say has some mould.

Cost-saving measures by the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School

Board have resulted in a cut to custodial services at Central Public

School.

The top floor, including classrooms and washrooms, will be closed

off entirely to students at the Pine Street school, which is slated

for closure by September, 2008.

Maureen Moloney, the school board's superintendent of education,

said the setup is just for one more year. Students, she pointed out,

have been learning in the basement for years, and it's not a health

and safety issue.

Come September, two classes will be taught in the school's library,

and according to some parents, a mouldy storage room.

" It's just really dark and damp down there, " said Ruth Sears, who

has a boy enrolled at Central.

After the summer, her son will enter Grade 6. Given staff changes,

principal swapping and classroom squashing, Ms. Sears' son is

looking forward to junior high and the stability they hope it will

bring, she said.

" He's frustrated with the school, " Ms. Sears said. " He said it would

be terrible, it feels like it's too small and it's always cold in

the basement during the winter. "

For Ms. Sears, however, it's also heart-breaking.

" It's just the chipping away of Central. How much money are they

really going to save in just one year? "

The board blames budget cuts on student enrolment. In September

approximately 120 students will be enrolled at Central - not enough

to carry the costs to operate the building.

While specific figures could not be provided, the board's 2007/2008

operating budget indicates " a further $168,613 is being reduced in

operating supplies . . . "

It also states 7.7 facility positions will be lost next year due to

school closures and more efficient use of space. Other operational

expense reductions include $170,500 in supplies resulting from space

efficiency measures, $114,000 in projected utility costs, and

$202,000 in supplies for building maintenance. There will also be a

small salary saving.

Tom Harkness, who's little girl will enter Grade 5 French Immersion

at Central next year, is concerned about her health, well-being and

quality of education.

" Since our daughter joined Central four years ago classroom

instruction has not taken place. There is the library and a computer

room. Interestingly to get the computer room in the basement,

Central had to fight the board, " he said. " The board was concerned

about the mould issue and the basement not being a good learning

environment. "

Mr. Harkness said he has tried unsuccessfully to contact local

trustee Brad Mills. He said he's also put calls into Ontario's

education minister with no reply, and Northumberland-Quinte West MPP

Lou Rinaldi's office.

" The secretary called me this morning and said the executive

assistant would call me tomorrow, " he said.

Calls made to the board's chair, director of education and

superintendent were also not returned.

In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Rinaldi admitted there's really nothing

the province can do.

He said rural schools like Central are already receiving more than

the average dollar per pupil.

While he said he hasn't yet heard from any Central school parent,

Mr. Rinaldi has been made aware of concerns from angry parents in

Eastern Northumberland over the impending closure of several schools

deemed prohibitive to repair.

Watching the impending death of old schools is not only a fact of

life in local communities but an epidemic, of sorts, faced by

students, parents and educator across all of Ontario, Mr. Rinaldi

said.

School board budgets have also been going up, despite a continuing

decline in student enrolment, and Mr. Rinaldi said it's an

expenditure the province will not afford for long.

" Education has come a long way, " he said.

New programs to meet the emerging needs of today's youth simply

cannot be delivered if the numbers aren't in the classroom.

Despite staff restructuring and the threats facing rural school

buildings themselves, high quality education is taking place inside

as far as Mr. Rinaldi is concerned.

" Test scores are higher, " he said. " The quality of education in

Ontario has gone up. "

Without moving to change with the times he said parents can forget

about watching their children blossom as individuals.

" Nobody likes to see a school close, but if the kids are not

there . . . "

As far as the monetary value of moving classrooms to the basement,

Mr. Rinaldi said he not only has faith in the board's decision, but

he also supports it.

" I want to believe that we elect trustees to run school boards, " he

said. " It's a far cry for me to tell them how to do their job when

they're democratically elected. "

He added the board has been in consultation with his office, keeping

him up to date during the whole process of its 10-year restructuring

plan. It's communication he said he appreciates because " at the end

of the day, we pay the bill. "

As for the issue of mould, Mr. Rinaldi assured " if they're going to

be in the basement and there's mould, I can tell you that would

never be allowed to happen. "

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