One of the dominant school-related stories of late was the showdown between the school board and Cambridge city council over heritage designations of a handful of schools. I won’t recount the story here, but the series of stories in the Cambridge Times can bring you up to speed.
Whether or not these schools should or should not be designated as heritage buildings is not the issue that concerns me here. The really unfortunate thing about the situation is the behaviour of both the board and the city.
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The most important job of any politician – but especially for trustees – is to be a good listener. Parents put an awful lot of trust in their school system every single day. It is important, therefore, that trustees be as accessible as possible and always be willing to listen to concerns.
As a candidate for trustee, it is even more important that I speak to as many people as possible throughout the campaign so that I can understand the wide range of concerns parents and residents have about our school board. While I encourage you to email any concerns you have – there’s nothing like a face-to-face conversation to really understand an issue.
Consider this an open invitation for coffee. If you have an issue you would like to bring to my attention, I would like to meet with you to discuss it. Coffee is on me.
This afternoon I formally registered myself as a candidate for public school board trustee in Cambridge. I have copied below a brief press release that will be circulated to local media this evening.
Colin Carmichael Seeks School Board Seat in Cambridge
Local resident and business owner Colin Carmichael announced his candidacy today for Trustee of the Waterloo Region District School Board. Carmichael, father of four young children, says his goal as trustee is to be an advocate for every child attending a public school in Cambridge and North Dumfries.
Among the many responsibilities of a trustee, Carmichael says he looks forward to the role of policy mediator between the school board and concerned parents – a job he thinks is often unfairly left to teachers. “Sometimes that will mean helping parents understand why things are the way they are,” Carmichael says, “while other times I will be in a position to take feedback and ideas from parents back to the Board and affect positive change for public schools in Cambridge and North Dumfries.”
Carmichael’s official campaign website, CambridgePublicSchools.ca, details some specific areas of concern that he has identified at the Board. Carmichael is quick to point out, however, that he believes Cambridge has great schools, great teachers and great students overall.
The website also features a blog section where Carmichael will be sharing his thoughts on various policy issues throughout the campaign. “I encourage everyone to be part of the conversation and take advantage of the comments section on the blog,” says Carmichael, noting that the site will remain active beyond the election, regardless of outcome, as a place for Cambridge residents to discuss school issues in their community.
More information can be found by visiting the website at www.cambridgepublicschools.ca, the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/votecolin or by contacting Colin Carmichael directly by phone or email: 519-240-1049, campaign@cambridgepublicschools.ca.
From the Waterloo Region Record yesterday:
A new study of public high school boundaries is recommending that all students within walking distance of Huron Heights Secondary School should attend there.
If trustees agree, teenagers living within a few minutes’ walk of the school — who have been very unhappy about being bussed to Preston High School in Cambridge — will finally get their wish to attend their own neighbourhood school. (link)
I absolutely support the idea that kids should go to school in their own communities. It is indeed ridiculous that students have been bussed right past their neighbouring school into another city. It makes no sense and I hope that the trustees will agree with the recommendation to move the affected students to Huron Heights.
There will, however, be implications here in Cambridge if the school board trustees approve the recommendations of the report. Preston High School stands to lose a significant chunk of its student body and while the article cited school board chair Mike Ramsay as saying that closures were “off the table” he was speaking only in the context of the consultant’s report. It would be premature, I think, for Mr. Ramsay to say at this point that closing Preston High is completely out of the question.
We must be vigilant now to ensure that the end result here is not that Preston kids will be bussed to Kitchener. I will be following up with the school board on this issue. Stay tuned.
The Waterloo Region District School Board is asking for input on its budget priorities for 2010-2011. [LINK]
From the WRDSB website:
Developing the annual budget is an important component of the achievement of our organizational objectives as we strive to deliver an exemplary public education system. In order to focus our resources we often have to make critical decisions about our funding priorities. We are seeking your input on this issue.
Please visit the WRDSB website to complete the survey – and don’t forget to also leave your thoughts on budget priorities in the comment section below!
Congratulations to the students at Stewart Avenue Public School!
From the Waterloo Region District School Board website:
Stewart Avenue PS Wins Grand Prize
Waterloo Regional Police Service has announced that the Junior WAYVE (Working Against Youth Violence Everywhere) team at Stewart Avenue Public School in Cambridge are the winners of the overall best submission in a contest for kindergarten to grade 8 students. The children were asked to share their creative ideas about how to “help make our community safer by encouraging smart choices.”Ninety-three group and individual submissions were received from a total of 158 youth.
The winning team visited with Waterloo Regional Police officers to learn about the Identification Branch, the Traffic Branch and the Canine Branch.
http://www.wrdsb.ca/news/stewart-avenue-ps-wins-grand-prize
