Smorgasbord

I'm still keeping tabs on education-related stories that are popping up, but the cold reality is that today I don't have time to write an individual post about each one of them. So, here's my shotgun approach to throwing out a bunch of links and a few words about each of them.

Bluewater
Owen Sound providing the latest in its continuing coverage on the review underway. It appears notes on the meeting aren't yet public from the meeting last week in Owen Sound.

"Advancer" on Sudbury Catholic schools' accommodation review
The Star has this preview on the pending vote by trustees on several Catholic schools, where there are recommendations for closure and consolidation coming from both staff and the review committee. The comments at the bottom are particularly interesting.

Wynne visits shared school site
A radio station report on Ontario Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne's May 22 visit to Strathroy District Collegiate Institute / Holy Cross Catholic in Strathroy. There's plenty of context I hope the minister was briefed on, such as how the boundaries keep shifting to keep the Catholic side full. Or how the public board just completed a huge expansion there last year. Or how the experience of building this school has scared the two boards away from voluntarily co-operating to build a similar joint facility at the elementary or secondary level again.

School obit
The eventual storyline after accommodation review commitees and board votes, etc. is the school obit story where we reminisce and retell and remember the days. The Brantford Expositor has done so (on its front page, no less) for a middle school set to close at the end of this year.

T.O. Catholic school closures
This one in Tuesday's Toronto Sun is scary-- the appointee is making the decisions the trustees can't make because of their failure to do their jobs. Eep.

Airing the laundry in Haliburton County
The Echo has this story of a review of schools in Wilberforce and Cardiff-- complete with mouse-dropping and mould inspections and a former principal saying the other school's students and staff have worse morals. Ouch. These sentiments are present in other reviews I've covered ("us" versus "them") but people are usually more restrained and keep it to themselves and their communities-- not in the public record.

Hastings and P.E. DSB ARC vote
The Community Press (Stirling, Ont.) has this story about a board vote on an accommodation review. What's interesting is the trustees did not fully accept their staff's recommendation, voting instead for an alternate recommendation presented by the committee. So, you see, some times, the process of providing recommendations to trustees that aren't NIMBYism or don't ignore the realities can actually be accepted and supported. What a concept.