Parents needed for school closure policy

The Simcoe County District School Board has adopted a policy addressing the process for school closures and consolidation. Policy 2313, Pupil Accommodation Review, was developed in response to new guidelines produced by the Ministry of Education.

School valuation is the focus for the pupil accommodation review process. To support this process, the Board is required to develop a generic School Valuation Framework as a means to assess the value of a school to the student, the community, the Board and the local economy.

A School Valuation Committee (SVC), composed of parents/guardians, teachers, principals, school trustees, students and municipal/business representatives, is being established to assist board staff in the development of this system generic framework. Twelve parents/guardians will serve on the SVC to represent each of the six administrative areas of the Board. Of these 12 members, six will assist in developing the elementary version of the framework, and six in developing the secondary version.

Interested parents and guardians from all elementary and secondary schools in the Board are invited to submit their names to be a part of this committee. Under the supervision of each Area Superintendent, two names for each area (one elementary and one secondary) will be selected through a random draw. It is anticipated that there will be up to five meetings between October and December. The SVC will be dissolved after the framework has been adopted by the Board.

Parents interested in participating in the selection process to serve on the SVC should send their name, school(s) attended by their child(ren), which version of the framework they would prefer to develop (elementary or secondary), phone number and email address by

• mail to: Simcoe County District School Board, Planning & Property Department, 1170 Highway 26, Midhurst, ON L0L 1X0 or

• email to: membership@scdsb.on.ca or

• fax to: (705) 728- 2265 - Attn: Planning department

Deadline for submissions is Friday, Oct. 5.