DURHAM -- Three Whitby schools might close after the public school board's accommodation review is finished. The schools, Florence M. Heard, Leslie McFarlane, and Palmerston Avenue, along with three others in the central Whitby area, will be the focus of an accommodation review committee (ARC), which the Durham District School Board approved setting up at its May 20 meeting. A decision based on the committee's findings is scheduled for May 2009.
"I really am looking forward to seeing what the outcome is over the next nine months, 10 months will be," said Ajax Trustee Marilyn Crawford, the board's chairwoman. She said the accommodation review process, introduced by the provincial government, allows huge participation by the community without involving trustees.
The three schools being considered are deemed in need of major repairs and also lack accessibility and space for classes such as art and music, said a staff report presented at the meeting. Captain Michael VandenBos, Jack Miner, and Pringle Creek public schools are also included in the review process for enrolment and program purposes - not for closure.
A prohibitive to repair business case submitted to the Ministry of Education includes new schools, additions and boundary changes to accommodate the possible closures.
The accommodation review process is the first step in the board's proposed business case.
Under the central Whitby prohibitive to repair business case summary, if closed, Leslie McFarlane students would go to Pringle Creek, which would receive a six-room addition and have its enrolment lightened through the opening of a new unnamed Brooklin Tormina Woodlands school.
A new school would be proposed for the Leslie McFarlane site to house French Immersion pupils from F.M. Heard and two-thirds of them attending Captain Michael VandenBos.
At Captain Michael VandenBos Public School, French Immersion would move to the new Leslie McFarlane site school, allowing for the accommodation of Palmerston Public School's students and its closure. Jack Miner Public School's gifted program would also be brought to VandenBos.
The accommodation review committee will present its findings to the director of education by March 2009. The committee could have up to 34 people, including principals, parents, teaching and non-teaching staff, municipal and business representatives. The process could include four public and 14 working committee meetings, said David Visser, superintendent of facilities services, while presenting a report to the board.
"The report contemplates that we would move with an ARC meeting to commence in June 2008," Mr. Visser said. Those participating will receive a binder of information to read over the summer, with the first public meeting scheduled for Sept. 30, 2008.
Meeting dates and times are available on the school board's website at www.durham.edu.on.ca under school/accommodation.