How to woo students to SCI, topic of ARC meeting
Although an ARC meeting last week took place at Byng Public School, the conversation revolved mostly around the high school.
Understandably so, because the pupil accommodation review currently under way for three Stayner schools, including SCI, Byng and Clearview Meadows, is in many ways about finding a way to keep the high school open.
Simcoe County District School Board has put forward a recommendation to close Byng and turn SCI into a Grade 7-12 school.
“This has been a love-in for SCI,” said Shawn Davidson (above) who is the father of a Byng student and a Clearview Township councillor. He said he too has an affinity for SCI and has a daughter who he hopes will go to school there in two years.
“But this school is being thrown under the bus,” he said of Byng, adding the school in the heart of the community and a stimulant for the downtown economy.
The staff-recommended ARC outcome hinges on the closure of Byng, which is facing just over $2 million in so-called current renewal projects, and the transformation of Clearview Meadows to a K-6 school. The change would result in about 230 new students at the high school. As part of the plan, the board would submit a $10 million business case to the Ministry of Education to upgrade SCI.
An accommodation review committee – referred to as the ARC – made up of representatives from all three schools has been tasked with reviewing the staff recommendations, consulting with the public and coming up with a plan. The ARC could support the staff recommendation, come up with something completely different or support the status quo. In June, school trustees will make a decision about how to proceed, but ultimately the final approvals would come from the Ministry of Education.
The review was triggered by declining enrolment at SCI, impacting program opportunities and student retention, facility conditions at both SCI and Byng, and accessibility concerns at Byng.
Parents voiced concerns about integrating Grade 7 and 8 students into a high school environment and the safety of those Byng students who would have to cross the highway to get to school. Some people also asked about projected growth as a means of keeping Byng open.
The school board’s superintendent of facility services John Dance said school officials have been meeting with township officials about approved subdivisions but decisions can’t be based on speculation.
There was talk of improving student retention and an attendance boundary review in order to send more students to SCI.
“What can we do to keep our students here?” asked one speaker. “Can we stop them from going to CCI?”
Dance said the experience has been that the board can’t force students to go to specific school and trying to do so can backfire.
In order to attend a different high school, students require an out of area transfer, which is reviewed by Area 5 superintendent of education Jackie Kavanagh. She said there has to be a compelling reason to approve a transfer from Stayner to Collingwood.
She and Dance said, the problem is that there are so many options for education in the area that students do choose to leave the public school system if their application is denied.
“If a student has made up their mind that they are not going to SCI, they will go elsewhere,” said Kavanagh.
In terms of programming, in order to offer many options, a school needs many students and the right teachers to run them.
“The reality is in a small school you are not going to get the same programming as CCI because they won’t get the students or the teachers,” said Dance.
As an alternative, SCI offers trades and other programming through a co-op program and it also has an innovative green industries program, offered at the school greenhouse.
There is a precedent for successful applications for Grade 7-12 schools, including Elmvale District High School.
The next ARC public meeting is at 7 p.m. at Clearview Meadows Elementary School, located at 12 Locke Ave., in Stayner on Thursday, March 10.
