IMPORTANT - Please read last paragraph highlighted in blue! Hope to see you at the meeting Wed. evening.
On behalf of the Chair, High School Task Force.
Dear Friends,
After three years of effort, your High School Task Force finally knows the answer to the question many of you have been asking: Why are the trustees of the Simcoe County District School Board opposed to the notion of building a high school in Wasaga Beach? Until last Wednesday, we were left to speculate as to the answer to that question.
During last Wednesday’s monthly Board meeting, Vice Chair Jodi Lloyd addressed the Task Force directly. Her lecture seemed to be spurred on by the Board’s annoyance over the Minister of Education’s January letter supporting our quest for a high school. Lloyd explained the Board’s position as follows: Trustees build schools where they are needed. Wasaga Beach “wants” a school. Wasaga Beach does not “need” a school. Perhaps anticipating our difficulty in following her logic, she spent some time explaining the difference between a “need” and a “want”. She went on to explain the Board’s concern with fairness and illustrated it in this manner: the Board’s request for a new school in Alliston to replace the current aging structure has now been turned down by the Ministry four times. If the Board now placed Wasaga Beach on its priority list, this would be unfair to the children of Alliston. Similarly, the children of Wasaga Beach will have to wait until Collingwood gets a new school to replace C.C.I. before they, in all fairness, can be considered for a high school in their town.
On a positive note MPP Jim Wilson thanked Minister Naidoo Harris for her letter supporting the purchase of land for a new high school in Wasaga Beach. When asked by Wilson if she was also prepared to support the construction of a new school, she gave a diplomatic and positive response expressing the fact that she would like to see a new school in the near future.
Your Task Force has some solid plans moving forward and will build on the positives. To that end, we ask that you continue to express your support by your presence at Board meetings and your letters to trustees. The next meeting of the Facilities Committee is tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m., April 4, in the Education Centre in Midhurst. Together, we can make a difference! Trustee Names and Contact Info:
