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10 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday September 12, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Oakville MPP believes southeast school closure decision will be reviewed By Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn is confident Ontario's Minister of Education will soon order a review of a con- troversial decision by the Halton District School Board to close four southeast Oakville elementary schools. "I'd be absolutely shocked if the minister had any problem performing a review," said Flynn. "I'm expecting to hear fairly soon and I'm expecting to hear that a review will take place." A petition requesting the review, and signed by more than 2,000 southeast Oakville parents, was delivered to Flynn's office late last week. The parents argue that the school closure process followed by the Halton board was flawed and lacked transparen- cy and openness. The petition also claims that the board failed to consider the possibility of future growth when Oakville's hospital is relocated out of the area. Spokesperson Mark Caskenette notes that despite numerous public meetings and discussions around accommodation issues in the area, the board's final plan was never one discussed by the community. Think Green. Breathe Easy. HUGE CENTRAL AIR & FURNACE $ Up to 3450* MANUFACTURERS CASH BACK SALE BEST PRICES EVER! Cash Back *OAC AND NO PAYMENT! NO INTEREST! FOR 6 MONTHS HYDRO CASH BACK UP TO UP TO UP TO $1400 + $1500 + $550 GOV. CASH BACK *Call for details. Financing Available If you have a news tip or story idea, call the Oakville Beaver at 845-3824. 8 Locations To Serve You Better! 905-849-4998 www.aireone.com 1-888-827-2665 OAKVILLE NISSAN'S A+ STK # 91750. Automatic, a/c, power locks, CD, 48,000km lots of factory warranty still remaining. 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On July 2, trustees voted to close Brantwood, Linbrook, Chisholm and New Central schools, and to construct a new school in the Clearview area. At the start of the 2010 school year, the plan calls for all English elementary students in the area to attend E.J. James school or the new Clearview school, while all French immersion students would be housed at Maple Grove. Renovations are planned for both E.J. James and Maple Grove schools. The board has argued that declining enrolment in the southeast Oakville area made an overall review of school accommodations necessary. Board Chair Gillian Tuck Kutarna adds that the decision was made after extensive consideration of the issue by trustees. "This is an attempt to consider the needs of six school communities out of 95 in the Halton Board, and we are now in our 17th month of working towards this decision," she said at a board meeting on Wednesday night. "I believe that as an organization, there has been an abundant commitment of resources in our attempt to reach the best solution for this area and that individual trustees have met and exceeded their duty of due diligence, both in listening to the public and in casting their vote in a responsible and informed way." She says the board won't be undertaking any construction or renovation work until any review is completed, but noted that board timelines don't require action until the spring. If a provincial review of the decision is ordered, Flynn says it should be conducted by someone with expertise in the education field, but without personal involvement in the Halton school board system. He suggests Dave Cooke, who served as a former minister of education in Bob Rae's government and now sits on the board of the province's Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), would be appropriate. But Flynn also emphasizes that the review won't be making decisions on the future of Oakville schools. "The idea of the review isn't to overturn the decision, it's to look at the process that arrived at the decision," he says. "I don't have the legislative ability to either open or close schools." However, if a review finds that the school board process was flawed, Caskenette says he is hoping for a second chance to look at the area's accommodation issues. "We would like to see a new community consultation process with an independent chair," he said. That's also the aim of a formal appeal, which the six affected elementary schools filed with the Ministry on July 28. A report on the Halton District School Board's website outlines the specific complaints about the process made by parents, along with the response to those complaints provided by the board. The report can be found at www.haltondsb.on.ca, under the parents and community link. Click on Planning Department, then the link for S.E. Oakville PARC to find the board's response to the PARC14 appeal. GOOD CREDIT · BAD CREDIT · NO CREDIT · No Application Refused!