Please, email your comments/suggestions of assistance and they will be sent to this member and included on this page.
A School Council member sent the link to his school's web site. Some information can be found there since they are going through an accommodation study, too.
"A few years ago our school was threatened with closure. We recognized that, although this did not show in any projected numbers, our neighbourhood was rejuvenating.
We did a door-to-door survey (lots of volunteers, flyers and leg work) asking for statistics about pre-school age children. Despite the Board of Education's anticipated decline in enrolment, our numbers proved to be accurate. This school is still open."
"The first step is to find out exactly why the Board wants to close it. Then go from there. No point in coming up with a dozen reasons as to why the school is viable. Start with why they think it is not. See if you can remove the supporting pins from their arguement. Everything else is of lesser relevance."
"I was involved in an Area Review Committee as a school in our area was recommended for closure. What we suggested to the board was that a school close by was very overcrowded and we suggested transferring certain grades to the school that was under therefore addressing two issues. We also all gave up our portables and made room within the school. Many issues play a part in why a school should or shouldn't close. The school remained opened and that was a first in the TDSB as they were advised to close 50 schools.
Good Luck."
"I was part of the Accommodation Review Committee in Hamilton this year. We found exception in the method or process and did secure the legal advice related to a movement to squash the closure issue here.
In the end we did not garner the support to move this forward and at the same time the 'process' was fast-tracked to the degree that we did not have enough time to consider the legal challenge fully.
My personal observations were that the School Board developed and presented statistics which supported their desire to close schools and omitted material information that did not fit that presentation. A well researched challenge to those numbers can completely undermine their reason to close a school.
We found that statistics on new housing starts and changes in building use from business commercial to residential were not being considered in the Board presentation (even though they stated that they are in constant communication with the city planning department)."
