Tell us what you're thinking: parents to Pearson

Several parents who took to the microphone yesterday evening during a first consultation with Lester B. Pearson School Board over major changes to be made to its schools asked for a better idea about what the board's commissioners already have in mind on the subject, but chairperson Marcus Tabachnick insisted that is not the best way to proceed.

"We don't have all the answers," Tabachnick told The Chronicle during an interview after a presentation to parents about coming changes.

However, that type of reasoning did not impress some of those who packed the large gymnasium at Lindsay Place High School.

"The students who are going through these changes are going to be affected much more than whether they got a 70 or 80," said Tammy Weinstein, whose children attend Christmas Park School in Beaconsfield.

"Don’t' leave us in the dark," pleaded another parent, garnering restrained applause from the audience as she said she found it hard to believe the board did not have a clear idea of what it wanted to do on the dossier.

At issue is whether the board's current approach to broad-based consultation with parents and other stakeholders of the community—asking them what they want to see happen without expressing any sentiment of their own—is transparent enough as a procedure.

Tabachnick said that giving parents a solid idea of which way commissioners are leaning presents another problem. "No matter how we do this, we are accused of having made up our minds beforehand," he explained.

He said the last time the school board presented a preconceived idea to the community was in 1999, when it had decided it needed to close a special-needs school because of a lack of students. Reaction to the announcement had not been positive, he said.

Yesterday evening, the board distributed copies of a 125-page document, called Major School Change for 2010-2011, which has also been available on its website since the end of March.

The document outlines three major areas where change is expected: re-zoning off-island elementary schools, raising the level of French competency in grade and high schools, and rationalizing the elementary and high school network.

Possible scenarios regarding each area are mentioned at the end of each section. For example, increasing "the amount of French instruction in all bilingual schools up to a maximum of 82 per cent in K in 2010-11 and in Grades 1 and 2 in 2011-12," is one of the scenarios for raising French competency.

As for rationalizing the school network, one of the scenarios suggests "cohabiting with Adult and Vocational Centres, French schools, etc." The board also warns that school closures may have to be considered in areas where enrolment numbers continue to decline.

Parents have until October 31st to deposit suggestion briefs to the board regarding all three areas. The board will also hold three consultation meetings with the community on November 17, 18 and 19. Final decisions will be announced on December 22 during a council of commissioners' meeting.

Chronicle file photo