In an article in the Citizen, our great little weekly paper, we learned today that the Ontario Ministry of Education has acknowledged that this community's complaints about the Avon Maitland School Board's accommodation review process may be justified.
They are in the process of selecting a facilitator to handle this case. The article describes the intention of this step as "reviewing the ARC process and its consistency with the board's accommodation review policy".
This is a very significant step since most people in this community had pretty well resigned themselves to the fact that there was no hope of saving our school. The Ministry has heard us.
It's too soon to declare victory. I would feel more confident if I knew more about the facilitation process to be followed. Will the board bring in a gaggle of lawyers? Will the facilitator also consider whether the ARC process was in line with the Province's stated policy - not just that they conformed to their own self serving policy. I would also like to know what power the facilitator has to bring the parties together and to resolve the matters.
But for the present, I think we can enjoy the fact that the Ministry is paying attention to our plight.
One suspects that the outrage expressed by people all across the province has helped to put our complaints into a larger context. It stands as a lesson to us that we don't need to meekly accept arbitrary decisions from on high. No more "Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full" while clutching the forelock.
No comments:
Post a Comment