Community Complaints Regarding Park West School Boundary Review

OVERVIEW

Park West School is the only elementary and junior high school in the Park West community. In its format as a grade primary to nine school, it provides the best possible learning environment for children in the community. This fact has been overlooked in the review process.

Board members and staff initiated the boundary review claiming there was a need to reduce enrolment in this school. In fact, they are pursuing a closure of the junior high portion of the school under the guise of a boundary review. It is unconscionable for the Board and staff to misuse the boundary review process and pursue a knowingly flawed, burdensome and upsetting process. It is inconceivable that they would even consider such a process without having first pursued less disruptive means to reduce enrolment, namely to follow their own policies and reduce enrolment by recognizing the school catchment area and capping enrolment. With knowledge of significant underutilization of schools in Fairview and Clayton Park, the Board should be examining whether the best possible learning environments would be achieved by closing one or more of those schools.

Board members and staff are pursuing the review with knowledge of a history of unreliable information and lack of community input in school closure and boundary reviews. Following the same process, there should be no surprise to hear the same community complaints and upset in the current review.

The hallmarks of the current review are more disconcerting than unreliable information and lack of community input. The community has complained about staff’s refusal to follow Board policies and recognize school boundaries and cap enrolment. Community complaints about the review include lack of transparency, erroneous information, withheld information, exceeded mandate, impeded community input, Board inaction and staff interference with elected Board members and volunteer committee members. The review should be stopped.

With notice of the complaints about the current review process and community upset, the Board has a duty to take action. Board members have refused to meet with their constituents or take any action. With an apparent mistaken understanding of their governing role and responsibilities and a disregard for policy noncompliance, review process complaints and community input and upset, the tenure of Board members should be in jeopardy and their review stopped.

OUTLINE

1. Best possible learning environment overlooked
2. Failure to recognize school boundaries or cap enrolment
3. A history of unreliable information and lack of community input
4. Current review follows the same problematic process
5. Complaints - transparency, information, mandate, interference, community input, etc.
6. Lack of transparency – Terms of Reference and a school closure by another name
7. Erroneous information
8. Withheld information
9. Exceeded mandate
10. Interference with elected Board members
11. Interference with volunteer committee members
12. Impeded community input
13. Board inaction

Follow the blog for specific information on the outlined Complaints from the Community, more to come in the following days.

Link to Best Possible learning Experience Overlooked

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