Halifax Politics dot ca

Reprinted from Citadelschools.ca 

There are serious problems with the current Imagine Our Schools Process. Why we think so is summarized here.

We are encouraging everyone, parents and citizens, to write the Imagine Our Schools people about their concerns, but that they should also :CC Howard Windsor (HRSB Administrator), the area MLAs, the area HRM Councilors, and the Minister of Education. Emails provided below.

We may be able to have the process reformed, changed, or at least the final decision altered but we need to act today.

We must act now, we need to make sure our concerns are heard. This helps keep us from being sandbagged at the end of this by school board and Department of Education saying “you had your chance for input and you missed it.”

It is really very important that all members of this list, and all parents and citizens we can reach, write now, to try and get this process back on the rails, and to make sure that the decision makers know we are unhappy and why.

Consultants:
imagine@hrsb.ns.ca
Maureen@csparch.com

Carbon Copy (CC):
hwindsor@hrsb.ns.ca
karencasey@ns.aliantzinc.ca
mmacdonald@navnet.net
preyra@eastlink.ca
howard@howardepstein.ca
utecks@halifax.ca
sloaned@halifax.ca
murphyp@halifax.ca
fougers@halifax.ca
kellyp@halifax.ca

Tonight, the Imagine Our Schools process will unveil the first draft of the new capital plan for Halifax peninsula. The consultants were hired in September and given until March, all of seven months, to produce a proposed capital plan.

This was mandated by the Department of Education to address the lack of community consultation in the Halifax Regional School Board’s previous capital plan, which was rejected. That proposal was for all of HRM. The new consultants process is for all Darmouth/Cole Harbour schools, and the Halifax peninsula.

Some ideas were revealed at a so called “community focus group” meeting last week. Two draft proposals were floated, one which would see just six, 650 student, P-9 schools on the peninsula, and another that would see eight P-6 schools, about 350 students, and just two 550 student junior highs, grade 7-9.

The nearly universal response from parents and many administrators to these grand proposals? A resounding silence. A “Meh” if you will, of grand proportions.

“What is the problem now” you ask? For a change, the issue relatively simple.

Leave aside the poor consultation, where parents and community members had a bare hour to respond to a 14 page questionnaire.

Leave aside the fact that the enrolment projections continue to be questioned by, among others, HRMs own planning department.

Forget, for the moment, that the proposed process presented by an embattled and battered HRSB administration in June of 2007 was not at all what went ahead, when the School Advisory Councils were marginalized the last voice of actual elected people was removed completely from the decision making process by October 2007.

The issue is far simpler than that. The problem is that the two proposed and far reaching ten year plans would require a massive capital infusion, something in the range of $50-80 million dollars, JUST ON THE PENINSULA, to completely reconfigure the school system. This when we need maybe that again in Dartmouth, and again in Cole Harbour, not even mentioning Hammonds Plains and Kingswood.

It is hard to get excited, whether you are for or against a proposal, if you think it will never see the light of day.

On another level, participants, especially engaged and informed parents, find the process exhausting, because the whole system is stupid. HRSB is so undefended by the province that it cannot and does not maintain its schools adequately.

The total maintenance budget for about 150 buildings is nine million bucks. That is about $60,000 per building. No wonder they are falling down!

HRSB is desperately under funded, for maintenance, for special needs, for enrichment, for ASL, for core programming, for support staff. The Province needs to provide adequate funding for all theses things, and ultimately, the buildings maintained and built by an adequately funded school administration.

I was pleased to note that if you type in “Halifax world class” in Google, the 9th web page noted is  the article I wrote about Halifax’s obsession with big falutin’ megaprojects.  Thank you to everyone linking to this site!

If Halifax was friend of mine (and I like to think it is) I would be forced to take Halifax to out for a coffee, sit down in a private corner, and talk about what direction Halifax is taking with it’s life.

“Halifax,” I would say, “you are a comfortably mature city with a lot going for it, but you are obsessed with being ‘world class,’ it’s all you seem to talk about these days!”

Halifax would stare into it’s coffee, wiggling uncomfortably in its seat, knowing where I am going with this, and not wanting to hear it.

“You have a great thing going on, you are a great city, lots of local colour, lots of stuff to do, a great place to raise a family, why all the worry?”

There is no answer, of course.   “World class”, big ticket, expense, mega-events and facilities are alluring, attractive, and, in the past, an easy sell.

It was far easier for leaders in the community to present an expensive, one stop solution to a myriad of the municipality’s ills. Something flashy, exciting, that will look great on ribbon cutting day.

These proposals have begun to run into what has become an almost automatic resistance from rank and file Haligonians, the little people, who vote, pay taxes, and quietly live their lives here.

Every day citizens no longer trust government and it’s agencies to give them the straight goods when it comes to mega-projects.

Too much blood was spilt and pain endured to balance the provincial budget.  Too many necessary and vital services have been cut and cut again to ensure both provincial solvency and later, growth and a positive economic outlook.

People are not afraid of change, far from it.  It is simply that regular folks have a laundry list of less sexy priorities that they want to see funded first.

There are plenty of things that, far from demanding new funding, are still waiting for funding to be restored at an adequate and sustainable level.  More community ice rinks, more pools, more basketball nets, more resources in the schools, better rec centres, more money for events that are already here, a municipal museum, a municipal art gallery are just  few.

Instead of massive projects, let’s talk small.  Let’s create world class neighbourhoods and and lead the nation in recreation, sports and education on a park by park, neighbourhood by neighbourhood basis.

“Halifax,” I would say, “focus on your strengths, build on them, and remember the families.  Don’t worry about that movie star sexy stuff, just be yourself, the best self you can be.  You won’t regret it.”

This website is fronted by an employee of the WTCC, and does not say who is involved… and so far has not approved my comment, though, to be fair, its been less than 24 hours. Comment below:

Waye // December 5, 2007 at 12:05 am

While not a partisan one way or the other, Council does have a role, as a government for the people by the people, to set rules, that often constrain business, with the goal being the greater social good. Is this a broad based coalition or is it “just” business and also, unfortunately, ‘arms length’ government agencies that are frustrated with not getting their way? I think these are valid questions that are yet to be answered.