Are Oakville high school accommodation meetings meaningful

Will the accommodation/boundary review meetings beginning for the new Oakville high school really end up being meaningful in regards to the final decisions made by the HDSB?

As a group of community members embark tonight on the first of what promises to be many meetings, will their opinions, concerns and recommendations be included in the final decisions regarding the new Oakville high school?

We are not suggesting that their participation is not required and for some, they believe it is parents only opportunity to be heard by the HDSB. It is our belief that parent participation is required to ensure our children have a voice in the way in which education is delivered in our region.

The real question, however, is ….will it make a damn bit of difference when it comes to what is really voted on.

What is leading to such a skeptical tone, however, is that time and time again, the community feels left out when the final decisions are made. By asking participants to attend, they often bear personal sacrifices in time, energy, etc. Our last few sessions, as witnessed by the public, have resulted in consulting reports produced, much debate in public council meetings and then either last minute motions being tabled for vote or community concerns being left out of the final solution.

Community response to recent accommodation sessions and/or PARCS has resulted in the public crying foul regarding how recommendations were incorporated, how the process was conducted and purity of the vote. Public outcry has resulted in many believing that community based input sessions of any type are often irrelevant regarding what is finally voted on.

The community does not have to look too far back to see that those involving Palermo are still viewed with distrust and the PARC in south Oakville led to a challenge and thus resulted in a scathing report being produced.

So we must ask now…..will our new set of HDSB trustees really listen to the people who are supposed to be representing us when they attend these high school accommodation meetings, will the new school have all optional programming protected equally, will FI programming have the same caps/restrictions as all other optional programming and will mandated programming be finally protected?

High school programming is supposed to prepare our children for the future. The Pathway philosophy so actively promoted clearly models itself with the realities of the job market today. It seems to be education and/or skill based leading our children to a variety of paths (e.g., work, college, university) but the end result is supposed to be providing an academic basis.

Will specialty programs as modelled by Pathways and mandated education be the ones to win the day for the new high school or will it be French Immersion programming taking centre stage when our trustees vote?

We find it rather curious that as these meetings begin, the only optional programming even being openly discussed is French Immersion. Why are the other optional programs being given the same spotlight?

Let us know what you think.