A: Saying goodbye to VCI . . .
B: Saying hello to a brand new school
The trials and
tribulations
of getting from A: to B:
On June 29, 2007 at VCI, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Jean-Marc Lalonde announced $10.8 million in funding for the new building to replace the existing Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute. At that event David K. Thomas, director of the UCDSB, told parents, teachers, students and community members . . .
"We need accountability
if we are to build capacity and
that can be tough and demanding.
We need
collaboration . . . we can’t just think
about Vankleek Hill, but we have
to think
about our competition. . . We
have to remember
that the school we build now has to serve
the next 50
years. This is a bold challenge:
to build a school to serve this
community
as a lighthouse."
Photo gallery with sound of the Nov 19, 2007 meeting
Photo gallery and sound from the Jan 17, 2008 meeting
Review articles
about the
new VCI project:
School plans presented to public December 2
Four options being considered for new VCI
Boundary 2020 recommendations:
Community may have to raise funds for VCI extras
March 18 VCI open forum meeting postponed
Community votes to build school behind present school site
Locations considered for new VCI; School won’t be ready before 2011
The community is being asked for feedback on two proposals
Hobbs defends time line; Parents express frustration
What has to happen in the coming months
Project Governance Structure for the new VCI
VCI Engagement Committee to meet with community on January 17
VCI to form committee to bring recommendations to school board
VCI silent auction cancelled after board reversal
VCI
building plans "back to square one"
School Board admits to not doing its homework
Registers relevant to the community: teacher
New VCI moving forward; information meeting Nov.19
As
VCI students prepare to shuttle
to Alexandria
Parents want answers from school board
Public consultation promised at funding announcement
VCI Transition Plans
Consultations continue through school council: school board
Silent auction at VCI-goodbye event December 22
High
school demolition discussion heads online;
Students, alumni plan fundraisers
Boundary 2020:
Boundary 2020 recommendations:
School board ready for next phase of Boundary 2020
School valuation report holds off on conclusions until public meeting
Events to mark the end of an era at
VCI
-- the VCI Silent Auction, Dec 22, CANCELLED
-- the last
VCI Band concert, Dec 19. SNOWED OUT
School plans presented to public December 2
VANKLEEK HILL, Nov. 12, 2008 – The public is being invited to look at the plans for the new Vankleek Hill Collegiate (VCI) at an open-house style meeting to take place at Vankleek Hill Collegiate on Tuesday, December 2 at 7 p.m.
On display that evening will be the design drawings for the new school, showing the floor plan, plus elevations and site plan drawings. The drawings will be on view for an informal portion of the evening, with a formal presentation taking place around 8 p.m. More details are to follow soon, says VCI Principal Jeff Campbell.
The Upper Canada District School Board received an additional .9 million in September from the provincial Ministry of Education, making the new amount $11.7 million, but the board is hoping for additional funds to pay for demolition and land acquisition costs, Hobbs said. The board was awarded $10.8 million in June 2007 for construction of a new school. While original construction estimates were higher than expected, they have dropped as the results of recent economic crisis, Hobbs said.
The size of the new school will be 57,000 square feet, a reduction from an earlier 67,000-square-foot plan, Hobbs said.
The new school may have three or five portables, according to an October meeting where the plans were presented to the Community Engagement Committee. The board will have decided whether to add two classrooms to the design or whether to use five portable classrooms by the December 2 meeting.
Visit The Review's website for a look back at how the story has developed since the $10.8 million funding announcement in 2007 and take a look at school plans as presented a few weeks ago.
Four options being considered for new VCI as board faces declining enrollment
By Matthew Talbot
VANKLEEK HILL – No date has been set for the next Community Engagement Committee meeting, to discuss options surrounding a new Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute, after the last one was cancelled more than a month ago.
However, according to Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) chief information officer Jeremy Hobbs, things are proceeding as planned.
Hobbs said the UCDSB is currently in negotiations with a Vankleek Hill land owner concerning a potential location for a new high school.
"We really can’t say much," he said in a telephone interview last week, adding the school board’s chief obligation is to "keep it confidential".
Some members of the Community Engagement Committee (CEC) have expressed frustration with the school board citing an apparent lack of communication and an apparent lack of progress.
Hobbs said Vankleek Hill citizens and the CEC should "take heart" that the school board is continuing the process and said the current pace doesn’t compromise any of the established time lines.
While the UCDSB is currently in negotiations concerning the land, it is also in talks with architects to produce several options for the new school.
These options range from the top of the line school to the bare minimum and, when presented to the CEC and, eventually, area residents, should be a starting point for a more concrete design.
Hobbs was unable to state a cost associated with hiring the architects to produce these options, however he said the fees have not come out of the $10.8 million new-VCI budget.
In fact, he said that sum is completely intact.
Yet when asked whether or not the architect fees would eventually come out of the $10.8 million, Hobbs replied, "we have to account for the cost of the entire project."
"It’s not just for bricks and mortar," he said.
Hobbs said stakeholders in a new VCI will be able to choose different items from the various options in the creation of a final design.
However, the final decision on the design rests with the school board.
Among issues the designs are addressing is that of declining enrollment.
Even if the Boundary 2020 suggestion of moving Grades 7 and 8 students to a high school environment is accepted, Hobbs said VCI still posts a projected decline in enrollment.
"We want to avoid a substantially empty school," he said.
Building a new VCI with a smaller footprint than the current school with portables and then removing the portables as enrollment declines is one option the school board is exploring.
However, Hobbs said the UCDSB wants "to avoid portables as much as possible."
VCI is currently home to about 480 students and, according to UCDSB forecasts, is expected to see that number drop to 230 by 2020 - 330 if the school moves to a Grade 7-12 structure.
Hobbs said the UCDSB is also wrestling with a "tight budget".
He said the Ministry of Education sets a rigid formula for new school construction and added $150 per square foot is a "tight benchmark to fall into."
Some trade-offs with the budget could include materials used, construction methodology and amenities.
He said there is a "laundry list of conceivable considerations".
When the options are finalized, school board members will be the first to see them, followed by the Ministry of Education and then the CEC.
Hobbs said the options will be initially "shopped around" internally because the board is footing the bill and wants to ensure that the options presented to the public will be board-approved.
"We’ll hear what people have to say, but the board has to make the decision," Hobbs said.
He estimated the next meeting with the CEC could be sometime in May, after the board has had a chance to review the options, but did not have a firm date.
Tenders for construction are expected to go out in the summer and Hobbs said the board is estimating Spring 2009 for the start of construction.
Boundary 2020 recommendations:
School boundaries
would change,
Grades 7 and 8 would move to high schools,
UCDSB would close
Martintown Public School;
Laggan Public School still a "future concern"
By Louise Sproule
KEMPTVILLE – The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) will review recommendations from the board’s administration for the Boundary 2020 review at a special committee of the whole meeting tonight (March 26) at North Grenville District High School, but trustees will make decisions about these recommendations at a May 14 meeting which will also take place at North Grenville District High School.
Public presentations in response to this report from administration will be received by the committee of the whole at a special meeting scheduled for April 23, at the North Grenville District High School.
The school board’s Boundary 2020 initiative is studying all its families of schools to address program enhancement, consolidation and boundary alignment. The system-wide review seeks to close some schools and re-align school program boundaries while developing an efficient long-term vision for public education.
The administration’s 71-page report containing recommendations is posted on the school board’s website. According to the board, declining enrolment is challenging the board as it seeks the means to maintain a large number of aging school buildings. In appendix D, which focuses on the board’s capital needs, five schools are listed as representing key consolidation points or future concerns regarding condition or suitability; these schools are Maynard, Winchester, Benson, Caldwell and Laggan.
The recommendations summary also mentions declining enrolment as it addresses what it perceives as a need for better communication with municipalities in Eastern Ontario.
"Administration is also aware . . . of a continued need by the Board to dialogue with Townships concerning the reality of enrolment decline and its impact on education in Eastern Ontario. In particular, there is a misunderstanding of the limited impact that housing starts in Eastern Ontario are having in relation to UCDSB enrolments."
School closures, boundary changes which will mean relocating students and transferring all Grade 7 and 8 students to secondary schools are among the many recommendations to be reviewed by the board.
In the region, Martintown Public School is slated for closure effective September 2009.
Grade 7 and 8 students from Pleasant Corners Public School should attend Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute once the rebuilding of the high school is complete.
Grade 7 and 8 students from Laggan Public School and Maxville Public School should attend Glengarry District High School in September 2009, according to the recommendations.
Grade 7 and 8 students from Rockland Public School and Plantagenet Public School should attend Rockland District High School, while Grade 7 and 8 students from Russell Public School and Cambridge Public School should attend Russell High School.
In appendix C of the report, which deals with the Grade 7 to 12 reconfiguration, there are indications that, despite early concerns, parents and students at a school where Grades 7 to 12 were combined are generally pleased with the outcome.
Agenda
for the March 26 meeting on the
Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) website
The UCDSB's Boundary 2020 web page
This just in . . .
March 18 VCI open forum meeting postponed; no date set for next meeting
VANKLEEK HILL – The Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) "New School" Community Open Forum originally scheduled for March 18 has been postponed to later date not yet determined. . .>>
<< . . . "The VCI Community Engagement Committee is very encouraged with much of the positive progress being made to date regarding the new school project," says VCI principal Jeff Campbell. The committee is waiting for a strategy report from the Thompson Rosemount Group. Once this report has been completed, the Engagement Committee will be seeking input from the Vankleek Hill Community.
For more information, please call Lisa Henderson at 613-678-2002 or Jeffrey Campbell at 613-678-2023. Henderson and Campbell are co-chairs of the Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute Community Engagement Committee.
Community may have
to raise funds
for VCI extras:
$10.8 million will build just a basic school
By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL, Mar. 5, 2008 – The $10.8 million in provincial funding for a new Vankleek Hill Collegiate is enough to build just a basic school, and members of the community will be asked if they are interested in fundraising for extras such as a large auditorium or amphitheatre, a pool, a joint day care facility, a greenhouse or a home economics room. . .>>
<< . . . The second community feedback form will ask citizens to choose one extra and indicate if they are willing to raise the funds to build it as part of the new school.
"I know that members of our committee Gary Barton and Robert Kirby, along with Upper Canada District School Board Director of Education David Thomas and board chairperson Greg Pietersma met with Thomas Teahen, of the Ontario Ministry of Education, to ask for more funds," says Lisa Henderson, who co-chairs the Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute Community Engagement Committee. "But we are now considering fundraising in the community for the extras chosen by the community," says Henderson.
The engagement committee was formed to ensure that community consultation took place as the school board moves forward with plans to construct a new school to replace the aging VCI, deemed prohibitive to repair. Provincial funding, in the amount of $10.8 million, was announced at the end of June 2007.
At a meeting in January 17 meeting, the feedback process was initiated as the community was asked for its feedback on the new school’s location. Choices included building the school on the present site, building to the rear of the present school, building on the track site, or purchasing additional land behind the school property and building there. The community feedback from those choices indicated that acquiring more land and building behind the present school location was the most popular option. At the January 17 meeting, those in attendance were told that at the March 18 meeting, the site for the new school would be announced and that a confirmation of the timeline, along with public discussion on programming and design would take place.
In January, when school board staff announced that the school would not be open for students until September 2011, parents objected to what they felt was too long a wait for the new school.
"We’re hoping that the board will be making an announcement of the site," Henderson said, saying she could not confirm that.
With local fundraising, we could choose two or three extras. It can all happen. We could even design the school so that the future possibilities are there for other extras," Henderson said.
Community votes to
build school
behind present school site;
next public forum on location March 18
By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL, Feb 06,08 - The Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) Community Engagement Committee (CEC) meets February 5 to prepare a final report and summary including the public's comments on proposals for locations of the new $10.8-million VCI. The report and summary is being prepared for the Upper Canada District School Board steering committee for the new school project. This meeting is open to the public and takes place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. . .>>
<< . . . CEC co-chairpersons Lisa Henderson and Jeff Campbell (VCI principal) spoke with The Review Monday morning from Campbell's office, saying that there was a good "turnaround" of questionnaires received from the community. In all, about 165 feedback questionnaires were completed and received at the school.
Feedback forms were distributed at the January 17 meeting at the school, during the first public forum to solicit feedback on the new school. That evening, several proposals for the location of the school were presented, along with information that the new school would not be ready to receive students until September 2011 - a two-year delay from the original ready date of September 2009.
The 2009 date was in place prior to a re-start of the process to include community consultation as promised at the provincial government funding announcement on June 29, 2007. The funding announcement followed lengthy appeals to the school board attesting to the fact that VCI was outdated, overcrowded and in need of replacement.
While the feedback indicates that there is overwhelming support of building the school behind the current school location or on the present school track, the feedback is just "one piece of information that the board will use," Campbell said.
"We summarized what the community is saying," Henderson said. "The board will tie that information to the decisions they have to make," Campbell said.
Henderson said that the CEC will also summarize other issues mentioned on the feedback forms. Many respondents felt that the timeline for the 2011 opening date was too long. Another common response was that people felt they had inadequate information, she said. But all these concerns and the comments will be referred to the board's steering committee.
The CEC was formed to ensure that the public has the opportunity to provide its input at every stage of the new school project. The feedback process, which will alternate with information coming from the Upper Canada District School Board about the construction project, will be one of many iterations, the board's chief information and facilities officer Jeremy Hobbs told parents, students and teachers at the January 17 meeting.
At that meeting, the second open forum date of March 18 was announced, at which the site of the new school was to be announced, although Campbell said that he could not confirm that would take place.
Parents and others at the January meeting were told that they would receive confirmation of the project's timeline and that there would be public discussion on programming and design at the March meeting.
The March 18 meeting takes place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the school gymnasium. The deadline for feedback requested at that meeting is April 8, 2008.
Locations considered
for new VCI;
School won’t be ready before 2011
By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL – Two questions – where and when – predominated the first of a series of community consultations about the new $10.8- million Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) which took place Thursday evening (January 17) in the school gymnasium.
Options for the location of the new school were presented, but with no price tags attached. Parents learned that the new VCI will be open only in September 2011, not September 2009 as announced last year.
Options presented included building the new school on the existing track, building on Pleasant Corners Public School property, buying land behind the school, buying land to the southwest of the school, retaining part of the existing school and building on the school’s existing footprint or demolishing the entire school and rebuilding on the existing footprint.
Area residents have until January 28, 2008 to provide their feedback about these options.
Location, location, location: public feedback sought on new VCI
Upper Canada District School Board chief information and facilities officer Jeremy Hobbs, who is heading the board’s construction committee for the project and Superintendent of Education Ted Kennedy, who is a member of the board’s steering committee for the school project, attended the open forum meeting, which included the community engagement committee, on January 17.
Hobbs presented options to about 70 people present at the meeting. Hobbs described the presentation as having a "blue sky approach", explaining that the options were not the result of a feasibility study, but were only for discussion purposes.
Working up to the point of construction will be an iterative process, he said, whereby the board solicits public feedback repeatedly. T he ideal time to begin construction is April, Hobbs said, adding that the board has set April 2009 as the construction start date with July 2011 as the target for completion, giving staff two months to move in to the new school.
"It seems like we have a lot of time," Hobbs said, "But when you break it down, it takes three to four months to get a tender done and you have to award a contract. From the tender, we need final construction drawings and that could take six months.
We’re looking at May 2008 for consultation and we hope to have the site nailed down by mid-March," Hobbs said, at which point the school board can start "re-engaging with the architects."
The school board has hired Thompson Rosemont Group to prepare the architectural drawings for the new building. The consultation process will not be over in April or May, however. Hobbs says that there will be still more consultation challenges as the project proceeds.
GO TO Sounds
and images from the January 17, 2008
VCI Engagement Committee meeting
with community. . .>>
The
community is being asked for
feedback on two proposals for the new VCI
At a January 17 meeting a UCDSB spokesperson presented six options regarding the proposed site for the new Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute. The VCI Engagement Committee, made up of school staff and members of the community, is asking for your input on those options.
Information and feedback forms are available at Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute, at The Review offices at 76 Main Street and many other local businesses in Vankleek Hill and right here on The Review's web site.
DEADLINE IS MONDAY JANUARY 28, 2008
Fax completed forms to 613-678-6490 or submit to Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute office or to The Review offices.
Download a Word document version of the feedback form
The two proposals and six options put forward by the UCDSB at the Jan 17 meeting:
Proposal #1 has four options.
Option A: Build on existing footprint, relocate students and demolish entire school.
This option would assure continued easy access of the school to the community, Hobbs said. Relocation of students during construction would be necessary if this option was selected.
In November 2007, the school board had announced its intention to bus students to available school space in Glengarry District High School during construction and had informed parents that demolition was to start during the Christmas holidays.
Late last year, students were being prepared to leave school in December and attend high school in Alexandria beginning in January 2008, during what parents and students were told would be an 18-month period during which school demolition and construction would take place.
But that plan was stopped when parents protested that they had not been consulted as promised; parents claimed that the board had not justified this decision to them financially or otherwise.
Later in the January 17 meeting, Hobbs said that transportation costs to Alexandria had been calculated at $1.2 million per year.
"I didn’t think it was (going to be) that much," Hobbs admitted.
A "portable" farm could be set up for students while construction was taking place, Hobbs mentioned as another option.
Cost of demolition will be half a million dollars, Hobbs said. Refurbishing the track (if portables were to be located there) would likely cost half a million dollars, Hobbs said.
Option B: Build on existing footprint, relocate students and demolish part of school.
Hobbs said that when considering retaining parts of the school, "objective, third-party engineering" would be needed to study the feasibility of demolishing only part of the school. Hobbs said that selective demolition might be more restrictive.
Option C: Build adjacent to Pleasant Corners.
The school board owns 80 acres at the Pleasant Corners Public School site. At that location, new high school premises could consist of an addition or a separate building.
Some of the septic service could be shared, Hobbs said, adding that he was aware that there was municipal water service at that site.
Elementary students would have access to the high school and there would be the potential for revenue from the sale of the old school.
Option D: Build on existing track land at VCI.
Building on the school’s existing track would mean students would not have to relocate.
Proposal # 2, which includes building on acquired land within the community, has two options.
Option A: Land behind the school - Parcel A.
Hobbs said that the school board had no idea about the cost of land located behind the school, but that purchasing additional land was an option being considered. This option would mean building a two-storey high school, which would be less accessible to physically-challenged people, Hobbs said.
Option B: Larger parcel of land southwest of VCI (across from fairgrounds).
The school board has not obtained costs for this parcel of land, nor does it know about the availability of land. This option would mean a new location for VCI, but still within the Vankleek Hill town limits and would mean disposal of the current VCI building and property.
A new track and tennis court would have to be built at a new site, Hobbs said.
VCI guidance counselor Paul Toupin asked about the capacity of the new school. Toupin wanted to know if plans included moving Grades 7 and 8 to VCI and if the building would be able to accommodate more than 450 students. Hobbs replied that the provincial funding was for a school for 500 students.
Toupin pointed out that many of St. Jude Catholic School graduates (about 25 per year) came to VCI for their high school education. Hobbs said that enrolment projections show a drop to 370 students within seven to 10 years.
Toupin questioned the wisdom of building a school on property located on County Road 10 across from the fairgrounds. "You would have buses turning onto County Road 10. I think you’d have a major concern there," Toupin said.
"You must know how much it is for that land," said VCI teacher Wayne Lee. "I would want to know the price of that parcel of land . . . personally, that’s my opinion," Lee said.
"I thought that you had said that it wasn’t possible to buy land – that it would cost too much," said student Phyllis MacCallum.
In response to a question from VCI parent Jodi-Lynn Albright, about how much land would be needed to accommodate the new school, Hobbs replied, "I would have to get to my construction team." "We have PCPS on 80 acres and that’s a tiny school," Hobbs said. "We’re not here to talk about how much land." Hobbs said, adding that there are too many options to cost them all out.
"We have an abundance of land," Lee said, re-entering the discussion. "We have a piece of land we can be creative with," Lee said, mentioning that the present school gymnasium had its roof replaced just last year and that the gymnasium floor alone is probably worth $70,000 to $80,000. Lee talked about building a new school and still using the older building for other uses.
Toupin again raised the issue of purchasing land when prices were not known. "I can’t see how we can choose an option," Toupin said. "I can’t negotiate in a public forum," Hobbs replied, referring to the absence of land prices or information on availability of land. "There may not even be any reason to buy land if it’s not approachable," Toupin said.
After this question period, those in attendance gathered at tables in discussion groups. After about 30 minutes, a spokesperson from each group summed up what had been discussed at that table.
Parent Josef Haefele said that discussion at his table had considered that the best option might to be build at Pleasant Corners. From an operational point of view and in the long-term, that option might be the best one for the students, he said.
Tammy Oswick-Kearney said that there had been no consensus at her table. "But we all agreed that 2011 was a long way away," Oswick-Kearney said.
"Why can’t we sell some land at PCPS, and use that money . . . and build the school here?" said Jodi- Lynn Albright.
Phyllis MacCallum agreed that 2011 "is a long way away". Maybe you could sell surplus land for revenue," MacCallum said.
Brian McCormick said that keeping the school in the community was important and that building behind the school might be the best option.
Mav Hall said that relocating the school outside of town would mean busing all the students and would hurt the merchants in town.
The meeting drew to a close with announcements that the deadline for feedback on location options is January 28, 2008.
Download a Word document version of the feedback form
GO TO Sounds
and images from the January 17, 2008
VCI Engagement Committee meeting
with community. . .>>
What has to happen in the coming months
The community engagement committee will meet on January 29 to process the community input, with results sent to the board construction steering committee by January 30.
The community engagement committee will meet February 5 to prepare for the next public forum.
Public forum takes place on March 18, 2008, with the announcement of the site, a confirmation of the construction time line and a public discussion on programming and design of the new school. This meeting will take place between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
The deadline for feedback from the March 18 meeting is April 8, 2008.
The community engagement committee will meet April 9, 2008 to process community input and will send it to the board’s construction steering committee by April 10.
On September 10, 2008, the architects’ plans will be presented to the community; there is no time or location yet for this meeting.
Project Governance
Structure
for the new VCI
The Upper Canada District School Board will oversee a project steering committee, which consists of board chair Greg Pietersma, local trustee Sherri Moore, associate director Ian Carswell, chief financial officer Rick Gales, chief information and facilities officer Jeremy Hobbs and superintendent Ted Kennedy.
A construction team, a finance team and a community engagement team have been created as offshoots of the steering committee.
GO TO Sounds
and images from the January 17, 2008
VCI Engagement Committee meeting
with community. . .>>
Hobbs defends time
line;
Parents express frustration, ask
"What’s best for students?"
By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL – "Quit this flip-flopping and get on with the job. That’s what my mother used to say." That is what an impatient Robert Kirby told Upper Canada District School Board chief information and facilities officer Jeremy Hobbs as a small group gathered around Hobbs to continue the discussions launched earlier in the evening, during the first community consultation on the new $ 10.8-million Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI).
Kirby, mayor of East Hawkesbury, is a member of the community engagement committee. Hobbs justified the 30-month time line announced earlier that evening by saying that the board was re-starting the project to consult with the public.
Originally, last November, when the board announced that VCI students would be relocated to empty school space at Glengarry District Collegiate, it was to be for an 18-month period, during which demolition and construction of the new school would take place.
Scott Allen, also a member of the community engagement committee, was likewise upset with the content of the meeting.
"We were told that you can’t discuss the purchase of land in a public forum, but you just put it in public tonight," Allen told Hobbs.
Hobbs said that it isn’t just a question of pushing forward. "There is a risk. This is not a board where we build four, five or six schools in a year. We are building a facility that has to last 50 years and if it takes a year longer to get it done, it takes a year longer. We’re not talking about stopping or not doing it. We’re taking the time to come to the community. If we make snap decisions, there is more to lose. This is not a race," Hobbs said.
But common sense is needed, Kirby said. "I’m in municipal affairs and they are slow, too, but this is ridiculous," Kirby said, referring to the 30-month time line for school construction.
"It’s a challenge. We’re talking about acquiring land and demolishing the school. I would rather be honest with you. Real estate is not the component. It’s honouring what the community wants," Hobbs said.
"The parents didn’t want the children bused out of here. There was such a rush to get the students out of here," said VCI parent Dawn MacDuff , referring to the board’s push in November, to relocate students to Glengarry District High School.
"The school would not have been up by September 2009," Hobbs replied, adding that there had been a rush as a result of enthusiasm within the board.
"I see your frustration, but I am trying to tell you the truth," Hobbs said. Reiterating that winter construction was not a good way to go, Hobbs said, "I don’t want two years of broken promises. This has been hard enough as it is," Hobbs said.
"This consultation is frustrating," said Kirby.
"There is still a lot of work to do," Hobbs said. As he continued to talk about the time line and community consultation, Hobbs insisted that 2011 was not that far away.
Hobbs repeated that the UCDSB does not do the kinds of construction that other schools have been doing. "With this project, this group has the opportunity to influence other communities as well. This will be a legacy for Vankleek Hill and other communities. When you rush people new to a skill they don’t perform well," Hobbs said.
"Tonight, we have focused in on one option. We want to be honest with you and want to set your expectations reasonably. It could be three years out and it could be less. Right now, it’s like nailing jello to a wall. I anticipate you sharing your frustrations. There may be compromises," Hobbs said.
MacDuff told Hobbs that parents were frustrated, referring to the last six months since the funding announcement for the new school. "Nobody wants the process slowed down," she repeated.
Hobbs replied that he hadn’t slept well in September, saying that was the kind of thing that kept him awake at night.
Parent Josef Haefele said that while people were saying the school should not be taken out of town, "The priority is how will the school operate and what is the best thing for the students in the long term? Cost is one thing. It is $ 1.2 million for busing to Alexandria, that is cost that can be saved by the right location . . . there could be sharing of courses, teachers and time-saving. It would be easy to share courses. You talk about power of scale, you would have it if you were at the same location."
"The cost is important but what’s really important is to say, ‘How much do I want to pay for it?’ Hobbs said.
VCI student Phyllis MacCallum said that there would be a lot of late students if the school was located along County Road 10, or students might not visit businesses uptown if the trip was too far to make during short lunch hours. "Th e community would be losing money," MacCallum said.
"The question is what’s best for the students’ education. It’s not about the community losing money," Haefele said.
GO TO Sounds
and images from the January 17, 2008
VCI Engagement Committee meeting
with community. . .>>
Download a Word document version of the feedback form
VCI Engagement Committee to meet with community on January 17
By Matthew Talbot
VANKLEEK HILL –
The Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) Community Engagement
Committee has delayed its first public forum to the new
year. . .>>
<< . . .The application deadline for spots on the Community Engagement Committee has also been extended – to December 10 – to give the public more time. Committee Co-Chair Lisa Henderson said the first "new school" open forum has been rescheduled to January 17, 2008 to give people a better chance to attend - and should allow the committee to be better prepared.
Henderson said the engagement committee will be meeting on December 20 with the Upper Canada District School Board’s Ted Kennedy to get a sense of "exactly what’s going to take place" when it comes time to plan again for a new VCI.
"I think we’ll have more to tell them (on January 17)," Henderson said. "I believe people should know what’s happening."
The open forum is a chance for community members to hear what the committee and the school board have to say, as well as get answers to questions they may have.
VANKLEEK
HILL – With the Upper Canada District
School Board deciding it needed to better
consult the Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute
community, the school is no longer slated for
demolition this winter.
However,
when news of a possible school demolition in
December hit earlier this year, students,
teachers and alumni quickly began organizing
events to commemorate and celebrate the old
building.
One such
event, Silent Auction, was to sell off school
memorabilia at a special wine and cheese
event.
It has since
been cancelled.
Teacher, and
member of the event’s organizing committee,
Christine Sauvé contacted The Review on
Friday to share news of the cancellation and
said she hopes it does not inconvenience any
who had made plans to attend.
TOP >>
VCI to form committee to bring recommendations to school board
VANKLEEK HILL – Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute is looking to form a community-based committee now that the Upper Canada District School Board has decided to consult those with a stake in a new high school.
VCI is looking for 12 representatives to "portray a broad community perspective," to sit on a Community Engagement Committee that will provide feedback to the UCDSB Steering Committee regarding the construction of a new school.
The co-chairs of the Engagement Committee, Lisa Henderson and Jeffrey Campbell, are seeking individuals who have an interest in the project and have the experience to work on the committee.
The Engagement Committee will be meeting on Thursday, December 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at VCI for its inaugural meeting, just prior to the open forum meeting scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. that evening.
Meetings are likely to be held on a monthly basis.
There are two positions available for each of the six groups to be represented, which are local business groups, local community groups, local municipal government, parents, staff and students.
Nomination forms are available at the VCI general office and on the VCI website at www.vci.ucdsb.on.ca.
Candidate nomination forms must be submitted to the VCI general office or by e-mail to jeffrey.campbell@ucdsb.on.ca by Monday, December 3 at 3 p.m.
If required, members for each of the six representative groups will be elected by ballot at a VCI school council meeting.
TOP >>
School Board
admits
to not doing its homework
See and hear the Nov. 19 School Council meeting. . .>>
By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL – Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute isn’t history yet. In a not-often-seen reversal, Upper Canada District School Board staff members told more than 150 parents, teachers and students on Monday evening that they had not consulted with the school community adequately, adding that as a result, the board had moved too quickly through initial steps along the way to constructing the new $10.8-million VCI. Students will not be relocated to Glengarry District High School in January 2008 but will complete their school year in Vankleek Hill. Construction of the school will likely not begin for another year and new options, including the purchase of additional land for construction will be put on the table.
In other words, it’s back to the drawing board. That was the bottom-line message from Ted Kennedy, Upper Canada District School Board Superintendent for the Gateway Region and from Jeremy Hobbs, the board’s chief information officer who has been implicated in the new VCI project following Don Fairweather’s departure from the board. Going back to the drawing board means re-starting much of the process, Hobbs told the assembly.
Local trustee Sherri Moore opened the meeting by assuring everyone that the board is committed to building a new school.
"We have been listening very well to the community," Moore said, before turning the meeting over to school board senior staff.
The meeting had been organized primarily as an information meeting to give parents and students a chance to ask board representatives questions about the school demolition, construction and the controversial plan to relocate VCI students to empty space at Glengarry District High School in Alexandria during construction. But the surprise announcement sent the meeting in a different direction.
Students had been slated to start attending school in Alexandria on the first day of school after the Christmas holidays. VCI staff was preparing a moving and packing plan and a December 22 "Goodbye to VCI" event was in works as a fundraiser. At the school council’s last meeting, groups spent time preparing "wish lists" for the new $10.8-million school after several parents had left the meeting, unhappy about the relocation and information flow from the board to parents and students. At that meeting, the school council had determined that it needed to have school board staff back to answer questions from parents at a well-publicized meeting.
"We’ve taken the time to step back and look at where we are," Kennedy said, saying that the board has "complied with trustee Moore’s request to revisit the process."
"We didn’t consult . . . and as a result, we started moving very quickly and as we moved forward, as happens when you move forward really quickly, you trip. I want to admit clearly that we are starting over with our consultation process," Kennedy said.
A steering committee will be formed with members of the community.
Describing the building of a new school as a wild roller coaster ride of emotions with highs and lows and sharp curves, Kennedy said, "As you move forward, you will find out that compromise is very much a reality."
"We’ve tripped," acknowledged a subdued Hobbs.
"This was about the construction of a building and not about the school community. It was apparent that we needed to engage the community more thoroughly," Hobbs said, adding, "The building of a school should be something for a community to savour."
Hobbs said he was telling the assembly honestly that since learning of the school funding on June 29, there "wasn’t a ton of assessment."
There had not been any community consultation, Hobbs said.
During the last few weeks, Hobbs said, the school board staff had been hearing what the community had to say and knew that there was dissatisfaction.
Hobbs said that the board would back up from the process and that there would be no talk of construction details that night.
In the past few weeks, Hobbs related that the board staff had heard from the community about the Farmers’ Market, the cenotaph, and the theatre. "We need to hear those things," Hobbs said.
A steering committee will be part of a series of steps and will provide consultation from the community, Hobbs explained, adding, "We want to work with you to get at your priorities."
"Four weeks into the job . . . this is not the way I would have envisioned this . . . to come to you cap in hand and say that we really need to revisit what we’ve done . . . to ask you for a fresh start so we can really do this right for the school community," he said.
Kennedy said he had two things to communicate: that students would stay at VCI for semester two and that the first on-the-ground committee meeting would take place on Thursday, December 6.
It was only after Kennedy’s announcement that students would stay at VCI for their second semester that there was a round of applause from the audience.
Kennedy continued, saying there will be a schedule of consultation. Meetings will take place the first Thursday of every month. Information will be posted on a website. Regular updates via a school newsletter and an information update regarding school construction will be provided to the school community.
"We want to make sure you are in-the-know," said Kennedy, adding that with the community’s help, the board would aim for the best "bank for the buck."
Kennedy said that no timeline had been established yet, but that it would likely be at least a year before there was a shovel in the ground.
But, he assured, the board would try to move forward as quickly as possible.
"We want to give this community the school it deserves," Kennedy said.
VCI Principal Jeff Campbell chaired the meeting during the question period which followed these announcements.
Vankleek Hill resident Charles Simpkin wanted to know how the board had gone from a three-week project to a year-long consultation.
"There should be something in between. Simpkin pointed out that if the school is only built three years from now, there will be a loss in terms of inflation.
The wish list could go on and on, Simpkin said. "I have concerns that the process will go on and on till we can’t build the school at all," Simpkin said.
Hobbs replied that there was a need to balance the need for speed with the need for the perception that things have been done correctly.
"We were only going to get to construction in April or May (2007) at the earliest," Hobbs said, referring the original construction timeline.
"It may take a little longer to get something that this community can get behind," Hobbs said.
Vankleek Hill resident John MacKinnon reminded the assembly that the school had been built in 1954 and said that his father had been on the school board at the time.
"I’m against busing students and I want a school built here before you touch anything here," MacKinnon said, mentioning the possibility of increased community use for the school, such as college facilities, and a hospital centre.
One audience member asked if there had been price comparisons made to examine the cost of purchasing land behind the school and building there.
"I’m going out on a limb here. I don’t think we did enough of our homework," Hobbs said, adding that the purchase of additional land would be considered as the process gets re-started.
"We want all options on the table," Hobbs ended.
Hubert Théoret, VCI’s former principal now on long-term disability, congratulated the board on re-starting the process.
Théoret asked if the board had asked the Ministry of Education for more funds to construct the school.
"Is there a possibility? Grade 7 and 8? You mentioned about the hub and respecting each group, but I would like us to consider expanding this hub to include more groups and more people. Have you considered partners and sponsors?" asked Théoret.
Kennedy said that the board could not ask for more funding until it had a school plan.
Kennedy replied that the Théoret’s question reminded him that the school should be a school built for the future, an important part of the community – a building that might be used 24/7.
As for partnerships and sponsorships, "There is nothing like having a Macdonald’s floor with the golden arches, but we have to think about what sponsors we would consider," Kennedy said.
VCI parent Shelley Ryan said she was "amazed" at the change in attitude compared to the previous school council meeting.
"We live in a small town here and this is a rural community. Maybe we don’t want mega schools and we don’t want one-hour busing and 18 more courses," Ryan said.
Ryan suggested that there might be parts of the school that could be used in the new school plan.
VCI Grade 12 student Phyllis MacCallum thanked the school board for changing its mind and allowing students to complete their year at VCI.
MacCallum said that students had been experiencing a lot of stress and that many had been thinking of moving to another school.
Mrs. Wharry thanked the board for "finally" listening to the community.
Vankleek Hill business owner Dale Clare asked if the school board had considered building beside the school to save on costly bus fuel and suggested that if relocation was necessary, nearby Hawkesbury, where some students already live, might be a better choice.
Elisabeth Bachem-Jennings said that the school that gets built is this generation sending a message to the next generation.
"What is important to us? Where will we be 30 years from now? We don’t want them to think 30 years from now . . ‘What were they thinking? How could they not know that oil costs $1.50? And how could they not talk about a heating system that would save us in costs?’ I think we need to think about what message we are sending and not just environmental, but social. " Bachem-Jennings asked if the architect selected by the board could accommodate the group’s wishes if it said it wanted a green school.
Hobbs said that thinking of the future was important and that the architect was up to the challenge. "In China, for example, they have more honours students than there are students in all of North America," Hobbs said.
Veteran 31-year bus driver Nancy Milkovic said she was glad to hear that students were not moving to Alexandria. Milkovic pointed to dangerous conditions on Highway 34, with tractor trailers and treacherous winter driving.
Vankleek Hill Business and Merchant Association President Anne Godard said the business community would have been devastated if students had been bused to a different community.
"It is imperative that the school be built here," Godard said.
Donna Doucette, a grandmother who is raising her grandchild, said she felt she couldn’t take the stress of that distance (to Alexandria).
VCI parent Jodi-Lynn Albright asked if the VCI students would be penalized because they were from a small community, meaning that they would not have the same opportunities as students from larger, urban schools.
Kennedy replied that the board would build the best from the best that they (the students) have now.
"As societies grow and change, the education sector is the last to change," Kennedy said. "The programs we’re offering now we might not be offering five years from now."
Midway through the question period, Sherri Moore repeated that the school board would not back away from its commitment.
"The school will be built. The consulting process does take time, but that is the most responsible thing to do," Moore said.
VCI parent Barry Perkins said he was glad to hear the board’s decision, but that it had it’s pros and cons.
"But every time a decision is made to speed up or to slow down, there are costs and it’s costing everybody in this room. I think it’s mismanagement on the board’s behalf," Perkins said to a round of applause.
A spokesperson from a trio of Grade 9 students said students were happy they weren’t moving, but asked if there would be money for new science equipment.
"That is part of the decision we will make together," Hobbs commented, allowing that some old equipment might go into the new school, but then said that it was too early to say.
The meeting ended at about 9 p.m. Campbell told the audience that he would be meeting with staff and students the following day. Information is to be sent out to the community and posted on the website shortly about the steering committee.
See and hear the Nov. 19 School Council meeting. . .>>
TOP >>
Consultations
continue
through school council: school board
By Louise Sproule
Upper Canada District School Board executive superintendent Jeremy Hobbs has been on the job for three weeks, replacing Don Fairweather.
The Review spoke with Hobbs yesterday.
Hobbs said he could best describe the process as "a tightly-driven, formulaic process."
"There’s not a lot of latitude for add-ons from a pragmatic perspective."
But that’s not to say that Vankleek Hill will not have a great school, Hobbs says.
But there are time constraints, according to Hobbs.
Hobbs says he is meeting with the Champlain Library Board next week and adds that the wish lists will be reviewed and says that there will be ongoing "fairly quick" conversations as the architects move forward.
"We have a fixed pot of money," Hobbs related.
While the board is moving quickly to demolition as soon as possible during the winter months, no tender document has been prepared yet for the demolition contract, Hobbs said.
Demolition costs are normally included as part of the construction cost, but Hobbs said that the board wants to retain as much of the $10.8 construction funds from the government and will try to find the demolition funds from the facility’s (VCI’s) budget.
"We are absolutely committed to putting a school in that the community will be proud of," said Hobbs.
Hobbs said he would provide a timeline to The Review soon.
Using a formula, based on the number of students at VCI and square footage calculations per student, Hobbs estimates that the new school will be from 60,000 to 64,000 square feet.
TOP >>
High
school demolition discussion
heads online;
Students, alumni plan fundraisers
By Matthew Talbot
VANKLEEK HILL – Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute students and alumni are logging onto popular social website Facebook to discuss the school’s pending demolition and organize fundraisers.
One group, "VCI Silent Auction," has more than 300 members and the group’s organizer, Katie Tollis, is currently planning a special event that would see VCI memorabilia and various school items being sold at a silent auction to raise money for the music program.
Students and alumni are even leaving suggestions for items to auction off, like old game balls, locker doors and the Canadian flag from the lobby.
Another group, "Buy a Brick for OLD VCI," is also looking to raise money for the music program as well as the shop program.
The organizer of that group, Lisa Godmere-Broad, is hoping to set up a fundraiser that would see bricks from the soon-to-be demolished school sold for $2 each.
There have, according to a recent post, already been lots of orders for the bricks.
Postings on the second group have strayed away from discussing the fundraiser to sharing reactions to the news that the high school is to be demolished in January 2008.
"I wonder why they are demolishing the structure rather than doing a fairly extensive renovation . . . the auto shop and auditorium are only about 20 years old.," was one posting.
Another commented that "if" the new VCI is built, it will be built to accommodate future growth, and drew attention to the Upper Canada District School Board’s potential school closures under its Boundary 2020 initiative.
The school board’s deadline for public input on the new school is October 26.
TOP >>
Parents
want answers from school board
As VCI
students prepare
to shuttle
to
Alexandria By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL – Some parents of Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute students are not pleased about the 18-month transfer of students to an empty portion of Glengarry District High School (GDHS) during construction of the new $10.8 million high school in Vankleek Hill.
At a school council meeting Tuesday evening, several parents expressed dismay and frustration at the logistics themselves and at the way the information filtered down to parents from the school board. As a result, the school council is requesting that representatives return to VCI to address parents’ concerns about transportation and to provide more details to justify the decision to temporarily relocate students to GDHS during demolition and construction. At press time, no date had been set for this meeting.
That students would be shifted to Alexandria for an 18-month period during demolition of the old school and construction of the new one was announced during a school council meeting on Tuesday, September 18, but some parents say they feel left out of the process.
There were two main items on the school council’s October 17 meeting agenda: an update from VCI acting principal Jeff Campbell on the steering committee and preparation of a "wish list for the new school". The school "wish lists" were prepared by those in attendance forming smaller groups to discuss possible elements to be included in the new school.
But parents’ concerns about the process dominated a question period following Campbell’s presentation, during which he outlined the relocation process and provided some details about where VCI students would be attending classes at GDHS. Campbell stated that on December 5, VCI students will visit GDHS, having received their new timetables, locker numbers and room numbers. Tours of the school will take place, along with a combined school activity.
On December 20, the last day of school at VCI before the Christmas break, there will be a breakfast for students. A community alumni event is being planned on December 22 as a celebration for the community.
"It will be an opportunity for the community to come in and it will provide some closure for everyone," said Campbell.
(See sidebar for more information about the move.)
Campbell said that in light of the close to two dozen parents in attendance, he would repeat some of the information conveyed by Upper Canada District School Board executive superintendent Don Fairweather at last month’s school council meeting, when it was initially communicated that VCI students would attend GDHS while the new school was being built.
"I know that everyone isn’t happy. None of us expected that (the temporary relocation of students to the former Le Relais location in the GDHS building). I know that some were shocked and some were upset and angry," Campbell said.
"But I’m telling myself that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: we’re going to have a new school," said Campbell.
Campbell said he could understand that for students in Vankleek Hill having to take the bus for the first time, it would be an adjustment, but, he added, the school board was trying to make everything as easy as possible for students.
"The staff from here has been in there (to the new location) and they were impressed," Campbell said.
Things are moving along quite positively in terms of logistics, Campbell told parents.
Plans for the staff to pack up and store things is underway, Campbell said.
"What is helping me deal with the change is that I’m very pleased with the Glengarry staff. I’m looking at it as two wonderful communities and we will work together to make the transition as smooth as possible," Campbell said.
Students have had a chance to write down their concerns on paper and a lot of those concerns have been addressed, parents were told.
After-school activities and sports teams will continue, Campbell said.
"We’d like to provide late busing, but we don’t have a definite on that yet," Campbell said.
Parents ask questions
One parent expressed concern with the time some students would spend on the bus.
"An article in the paper said most parents were okay with it and that’s not true. We’re 45 minutes away from here and this is a big concern," said one parent, who said that it would take an hour to get there from her place of work and then another hour to return.
Campbell said the school board knew that some parents were concerned.
"I’m not saying everyone is happy. But they’re doing this to put as much money into the school as possible," said Campbell, referring to the move.
The bus routes are being reconfigured, Campbell said, adding that "Every reasonable effort is being made to keep ride times within the hour."
"I don’t want students on the bus longer than an hour," Campbell said.
"When we got the money, we were promised there would be lots of consultation. We know you were blindsided, but can’t they wait more than 60 days before they decided to demolish?"asked Scott Allen.
Campbell replied that the funding announcement had taken place during the summer, which may not have been the best time.
The school council members said they only learned on the Friday afternoon before the Tuesday, September 18 meeting that UCDSB executive superintendent Don Fairweather would attend their meeting.
"The minute you start taking money out, you get less of a school. There is land out back, but not a lot of access out back and that was a consideration," Campbell said.
"But Highway 34 to Alexandria is one of the worst roads there is," Allen said.
Parent Barbara Kilbride questioned relocating students two-and-a-half weeks before the exam period.
"Everything will be unfamiliar to them. I’m concerned that the timing wasn’t the greatest. Couldn’t you have waited until the end of January?" Kilbride asked.
Campbell replied that the exam situation was presented to Grade 12 students, who voted to keep the status quo.
"We’re giving them three weeks after Christmas to settle in. There will be a lot of review and their classrooms will be all set," Campbell said.
"We have been addressing that," said VCI teacher Christine Sauvé, saying that students have been consulted about their presentations and exams.
"We are talking to Grade 12 students," Sauvé said, emphasizing that nothing was being imposed on students.
Shelly Ryan feels that the last two years of one of her teenager’s high school life will be completely disrupted.
"I know that rumours are abundant, but I am hearing that they (the school board) didn’t even inquire as to the price of the land (vacant land located west of VCI).
"You talk about late buses but they are not definite yet. A lot of students have jobs that start at 2:30 p.m. This is affecting the whole community. The people at the gas station across the street say they might as well close up and go home. I’m here because my job is to look after my kids. I know you are trying to look after all of the kids," Ryan said.
Acknowledging that she is not a regular at school council meetings, Ryan continued: "I know I don’t usually come to school council meetings . . . I’m busy and I work nights, but you’re making decisions that affect my children, so I am here tonight. I have also heard that the soil samples at the back of the school were found to be unacceptable . . . that there is lead in the building. And there are bad roads and people make calls for weather. But then there are days when they should make a weather call but they don’t because they have used up their snow days," said Ryan.
Referring to Highway 34, Ryan said, if just one of our students get hurt on Highway 34 this winter . . . but there will be busloads of kids . . ." Ryan said.
"There’s no pot of gold for me because my kids aren’t even going to see this school," Ryan said.
Starting in January, Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute students will be on their own bus run, Campbell explained. Bus routes to GDHS will be different from existing routes.
Parent Charles Simpkin pointed to the funding announcement, then the sudden announcement that students would be transported to GDHS and then, "I found out this morning about the 8 a.m. start time."
Simpkin, relating that he had previous experience working on the school council at Pleasant Corners Public School and had been part of the introduction of school councils into the school system, said that it wasn’t parents job to "micromanage the school or the school board."
"We’re making a sacrifice here. It’s an inconvenience, but we’re making a sacrifice for the next three or four generations. We need a new school to bring people into the community," Simpkin said, adding that items to be considered for the new school, such as an auditorium, were the real issues.
"We need to be looking at these things. Let’s mould this school into what we want. Let’s get on board and make this thing happen," Simpkin ended.
Parent Barry Perkins said that if his daughter had know that this (the relocation) was going to happen, " . . . she would never have lobbied for a new school. About this busing . . . I don’t know how it’s humanly possible to take a kid from Pointe Fortune and get that kid to Alexandria in less than an hour. If you can tell me how, I’d like to hear it," Perkins said.
"The busing is crazy," agreed parent Scott Allen. "It’s hard for me to understand. You can’t fill the bus in an hour. How are they going to fill a bus and get them there in an hour. You’re talking about extra buses, but how much is that going to cost?" asked Allen.
Community representative and past president of the school council Judy Boulet said that the school board has said it would pick up extra busing costs.
"But it all comes out of the same pocket," Allen said.
"But at least it’s not coming out of our money for the school," Boulet answered.
"Why didn’t they (the government) give them (the school board) $500,000 more so they could buy some land and put the school where its’s supposed to be?" Allen asked.
Another parent said that she had gone through a similar situation in Montreal and had been bused double the distance. "It could be worse," that parent offered.
School council secretary Jan Norris said that at the root of all the complaints is the parents’ feeling that they were not included in decision-making.
"We were all there, traveling to Brockville when we were lobbying for a new school and we were involved in everything when we wanted a new school, but the biggest thing now is that we should have had a meeting. The board should have organized a meeting and invited the teachers and principal and parents and said this is the scenario so that we’re involved. Everybody’s angry at the teachers, at the principal . . . and they’re (the board) not explaining it to anyone. People feel railroaded. Nobody considered anyone’s feelings," Norris summed up.
"Highway 34 is the worst piece of highway . . . you can sugar-coat it any way you want, but they could built a school and put up a fence around the construction . . . they do it all the time in the city," Norris said.
She stressed that people in the community might have offered to help if they had been given the chance. Perhaps the land owner would have reduced the price of land to sell to the school board, or someone would have offered to offset the cost of plumbing to the new school.
"Everyone has an option, but no one got the chance," Norris said.
"It would have made a difference. Now people feel they (the school board) doesn’t care," Norris said.
Parent Lisa Henderson said she knew that parents were upset. "I think we need more of an open book. I think the board needs to show us . . . what’s the difference in the budget . . ." for the various options.
During a break, while some parents left, and those who remained gathered in groups to prepare their wish lists, Campbell related that he will be forwarding the "wish lists" to the school board for consideration by the architects.
"Our deadline is the 26th," Campbell said, adding that community groups and organizations who use the school, such as the Prescott Players and the Vankleek Hill Music Festival, have already been contacted for their input.
Champlain Township was contacted for its input on the possibility of sharing library facilities. Mayor Gary Barton said he will be presenting the idea to council, "But it is unlikely that we would move the library to VCI. We just spent more than $100,000 renovating our library a few years back and at this very moment, we’re completing the handicapped-access ramp," Barton said.
Prescott Players spokesperson Tammy Oswick-Kearney said that the Prescott Players had been invited to a meeting to discuss theatre needs with Kathleen Fraser Collins, Bobby Lalonde and Ian Hepburn (the latter representing the Vankleek Hill Music Festival).
"We want the best theatre we can get, but if we can’t have a new theatre, we want to keep the one we have (at VCI)," said Oswick-Kearney.
Fraser Collins said that she had contacted music teachers and others in the area that are considered to be stakeholders. Letters collected from stakeholders will be submitted to the school board by the October 26 deadline, Fraser Collins said.
In general, the consensus seems to be a request for a larger performance space, with seating that can accommodate the entire student body, Fraser Collins said, adding that Ian Hepburn was the only one who showed interest in keeping the original theatre.
A handout distributed at the school council meeting says that once the plan is received from the board architects, it will be shared with everyone at the following school council meeting.
See and hear a photo gallery and audio recording of the School council meeting
TOP >>
Public
consultation promised
at funding announcement
On June 29 at VCI, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Jean-Marc Lalonde announced the $10.8 million in funding for the new school.
David Thomas, director of the UCDSB, told parents, teacher, students and community members in attendance at a celebration breakfast, that: "We need accountability if we are to build capacity and that can be tough and demanding. We need collaboration . . . we can’t just think about Vankleek Hill, but we have to think about our competition. In China, there are 27 million gifted kids below the age of 12. We have to think about what we are facing in light of the global economy and recognize that as we build the future. And we have to be innovative. The new school can’t look like it did 50 years ago. We have to remember that the school we build now has to serve the next 50 years. This is a bold challenge: to build a school to serve this community as a lighthouse," Thomas said.
After the formal announcement, Thomas told The Review that even as the funding announcement was taking place, a meeting to determine the next steps was taking place.
Planning had started about two weeks earlier, he said.
Thomas wouldn’t comment at that time on whether the board was planning to acquire more land for construction of the new school.
"Between this site and Pleasant Corners Public School, we have 60 acres. We have enough land. It’s a little early to say, but right now, we want to keep all the doors open," Thomas said.
In keeping with his earlier emphasis on the need to build for the future and the global economy, Thomas said, "If we don’t take a look at partnership, we would be making a huge mistake."
Public consultation would be the next step, he said, when the board will consult with stakeholders in the community.
"We’ve got to serve the community and make sure that every cent goes to what this community wants," Thomas emphasized.
Architects would talk to the community, Thomas said, beginning with the school council, who will be part of the stakeholder meetings.
Stakeholder meetings would likely take place in the fall, Thomas said.
Thomas also emphasized that deciding what to keep from the old school is also important.
"We have a professional archival process and record management in place," Thomas said.
TOP >>
VCI Transition Plans:
• All students at each grade level will be given the opportunity to visit GDHS.
• VCI students will join with Glengarry to celebrate St. Andrew’s Day which is at the end of November. The students could have a tour of the facility and meet other students under festive circumstances to ease the union of the two schools in the same facility.
• VCI students have asked to meet with the Glengarry student council.
• A subcommittee has been formed to organized packing, moving, storage, cleanout, teacher/classroom furniture, computer/data and the school’s new address.
• VCI’s graduation ceremonies and fashion show will take place in Vankleek Hill, most probably at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre.
• Late bus transportation is being explored for students.
• The VCI sign will be relocated to Glengarry in January.
• VCI will maintain its own sports teams and hold its own events unless mutually agreed-upon by both schools and respective administrations.
• An alumni reunion is being planned for Saturday, December 22, with the usual alumni basketball game followed by a wine and cheese and a silent auction of school memorabilia. Students with musical talent will perform throughout the evening.
• The VCI Christmas band concert will take place on Wednesday, December 19, with school alumni invited to join them at this performance.
• The last day of school: A Christmas breakfast will take place on Thursday December 20 as part of a special students day to remember the old VCI and celebrate the new. The student council will organize this event.
• Steering Committee minutes include a note that UCDSB executive superintendent Don Fairweather reports that a two-storey building with an elevator is planned. He provided a framework for steering committee discussions, listing the items requested by Russell High School, which has already completed the process. That school’s requests included: double gymnasium, cafetorium (cafeteria + auditorium with stage), technology shop, science labs, computer lab, music room, art room, drama room, special education resource room, regular classrooms and storage space. (They did not require additional space for library, staff room, administration, guidance and student council because they already had it in their existing building.)
• Staff will report to VCI, Alexandria site on Monday, January 7 to prepare classrooms for students’ arrival.
• First day of school for VCI students at Alexandria site: Tuesday, January 8.
• Bus schedules will be available in early December. An open house is planned for the Glengarry site in mid-January.
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By Matthew Talbot
VANKLEEK HILL - Katie Tollis is making a list. Maybe she's checking it twice and maybe she isn't, but what's on it will be the vestiges of a 50-year-old high school, salvaged before the building's demolition and sold at a silent auction.
The list is made up of Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute memorabilia from over the years and these items, Tollis said, are going to be sold at an auction on December 22.
The money will go to graduating students (this year's class and next year's) affected by the year-long, temporary move to Alexandria to plan and fund things like their prom and graduation.
The close-to-Christmas date has been carefully selected, Tollis said, since many people will be home for the holidays and will be able to attend.
At the same time, with the school scheduled for demolition in late 2007, it may be the last chance to visit the school and students and alumni are planning the wine-and-cheese event as a last goodbye.
They're also logging onto social website Facebook to discuss the pending demolition and organize the fundraiser.
The online group, "VCI Silent Auction," already has more than 350 members and is growing all the time.
Tollis, the group's organizer, said the website has proven to be one of the easiest ways to organize the fundraiser and reach former students who have moved out of town.
"I look at the group every day and it's more and more people, people I've never met, joining and asking questions. There are people . . . who graduated over 10 years ago," she said. "It's good, because there are certain things in the school I walk by every day that I wouldn't really think someone would be interested in buying."
Students and alumni are posting suggestions on the group's wall for items that should be auctioned off, like old game balls, locker doors, basketball nets and the Canadian flag from the lobby.
Tollis said she'd probably take her locker number, though not the whole door as she said many want to, but couldn't think of anything else she'd bid on.
On average, there are about 15 students, alumni and parents, each with "a connection to VCI in their own personal way," planning and organizing the event.
There is to be an alumni basketball game earlier in the day on December 22 and Tollis said the school will be open from 11 a.m., so people may be able to take a tour and check out some of the items up for auction.
The Upper Canada District School Board will be allowing a liquor license for the event.
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Registers relevant to the community: teacher
By Matthew Talbot
VANKLEEK HILL - Two Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute teachers are working to rescue documents dating back to 1893 that they found in the basement of the school, even as the Upper Canada District School Board still offers no assistance and prepares to have the school knocked down.
“These are relevant to the school and the community,” Scott Birks said. “This is history going way back.”
Neither Birks nor his fellow finder Bob Doran live in Vankleek Hill, yet that isn’t stopping them from crusading to save the documents.
“We’re the ones who are pushing the most for the preservation of these records,” Birks said.
There are only six weeks left until demolition and Birks and Doran are facing a number of hurdles.
The old attendance registers need a home, as VCI students and staff are to spend a year and a half at Glengarry District High School. Carting them to the temporary school isn’t an option - there are fears they’ll be lost or damaged in transit.
“The absolute words would be dragging them around,” Birks said. “And we can’t put them in boxes and put them in a storage shed.”
According to a museum in Ottawa, just removing the documents from the basement is damaging.
When the two found the old attendance registers five years ago in the former shooting gallery, which is now declared unsafe due to lead contamination, they contacted an Ottawa museum, looking for tips on preservation.
Birks said the museum told them the conditions in the basement just happened to be perfectly favourable for preservation - it was dry, despite being the school’s low point, and dark.
“It was pure chance these registers survived this long,” Birks said.
Bringing them to the surface, so to speak, is similar to what would happen if historians raised the Titanic. While VCI’s attendance registers from 1893 wouldn’t disintegrate as fast at the ill-fated boat, they still need to be properly archived to preserve them as they should be.
Birks sees a lot of potential in the registers, which contain student names, grades, family professions, addresses, where students went after graduating and even their religion of choice.
Already, though it was five years ago and the pair forgets the name of the student, Birks and Doran have done some insightful research into a boy who left school one fall during the 1910s and never came back.
“When they were leaving for World War One, sometimes they didn’t come back,” Doran said.
“Then we walked out and, holy jeez, there’s this guy who left high school to go and fight,” Birks said, “and never came back. Not just never came back to school. Never came back.”
The registers aren’t the only thing the teachers want to preserve - there are classroom doors beautifully painted by art students, wood cabinets built by the school’s custodian and a mural painted nearly 10 years ago by a young student who later committed suicide.
“That mural has survived the test of time in the high school, not once being vandalized,” Birks said, only to face destruction now at the mercy of a wrecking ball.
Birks said the will to save these things isn’t the problem, it’s finding where to store them for a year and a half. And with time quickly running out and board-funded archival consultants and lead experts still absent, Birks is growing concerned.
He said he thinks he’ll turn to the local museum or the local historical society, because neither Doran nor Birks, nor anyone else at the school for that matter, have the training and knowledge to handle such documents, let alone preserve them long enough for anyone to find out what his or her great-grandmother scored in math.
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New
VCI moving forward;
information meeting Nov.19
By Louise Sproule
VANKLEEK HILL – A November 19 information meeting planned at Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute is happening none too soon. Rumours that the construction of the new $10.8-million Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) will be postponed are "false rumours ", says VCI Principal Jeff Campbell.
"I have nothing substantiated on that. Here at the school it’s business as usual. We will be getting an update on November 19," said Campbell, referring to the school council meeting taking place in the gymnasium.
In attendance at that meeting will be Jeremy Hobbs, (replacing Don Fairweather, who had been Executive Superintendent of the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) before he moved on to other employment) and Ted Kennedy, Superintendent of Education for the Gateway Region. The attendance of other school board representatives was unconfirmed at press time.
The UCDSB staff members will answer questions about the relocation of students to Alexandria, as well as upcoming demolition and construction of the new school, which is to begin this spring and will take about 18 months to complete.
Campbell says that he believes that wooden cabinets and trophy cases will be dismantled and stored until the new school is ready but adds that the school’s existing furnishings will likely be distributed to other schools across the board region. Campbell says that there is a budget allocation for new furnishings and that the thinking is generally not to put used furniture into a new school environment. "We’ll be preserving things that are of historical interest, like the old school bell," Campbell said. The war memorial monument may be dismantled and relocated temporarily so that it can be used for Remembrance Day ceremonies to take place elsewhere during the construction project, Campbell said. "I know that’s been put forward to folks and I know that the local Legion wants to keep the monument on the school site," Campbell said.
André Martel, co-owner of Martel & Sons Monuments in Vankleek Hill confirmed that the Martel company has been contacted by the school board, which asked for a price to dismantle the monument and place it in storage. But that was more than a month ago, says Martel, who has heard nothing since providing the board with a price.
In the meantime, students and teachers are supposed to be relocating to an empty portion of Glengarry District High School, starting January 8, 2008. The last day of school will be Thursday, December 20, while on December 22, a wine and cheese and fundraising silent auction are being planned as the community’s final farewell to the school. Demolition is supposed to start during the Christmas break. According to Campbell, no demolition tender document has been prepared yet. "As far as I know, that is what they are working on."
Dale Clare, owner of Cliftondale Construction, contacted The Review to say that his Vankleek Hill company was interested in obtaining the contract. Clare said that after speaking to the board’s consulting group working on the project and with a board staff member, the demolition tender would not be advertised in this part of the province. Clare says he has the equipment to handle and process construction waste and that he has the staff to handle the job and has sent a fax to the Upper Canada District School Board to advise them that he wants his company to be considered for the demolition job.
Some parents have expressed disappointment and frustration at the lack of information coming from the school board about the coming relocation of students. Other parents are unhappy about the transportation time to be imposed on students for the next year-and- a-half.
At a recent meeting between representatives from the UCDSB and the Champlain Township Library Board, Champlain Township Mayor Gary Barton says he told the board representatives they were welcome to make a presentation to council about the possibility of sharing library facilities. "I said they are free to come to council. But I also told them the reality is I don’t think you ’re going to get a very positive response. The bottom line is that less than five years ago, we spent $135,000 on renovations to the library and just now,we are completing a $35,000 handicapped access ramp," Barton said, adding that it’s not too likely that the township is going to spend a few hundred thousand dollars building new library facilities at the school.
The school council meeting takes place Monday, November 19 at 7 p.m.
At press time, Jeremy Hobbs, board purchasing agent Ron MacLaren, Gerry Knight of the Thompson Rosemont Group (the board ’s architectural firm) and Sherri Moore, the school board trustee representing the eight municipalities in Prescott-Russell, had not returned The Review’s telephone calls.
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School board ready
for next phase
of Boundary 2020
By Matthew Talbot
KEMPTVILLE – The UCDSB (Upper Canada District School Board) Boundary 2020 program will be moving into its next phase by the end of this month following the completion of the ARC (Accommodation Review Committee) meetings - the preparation and presentation of the findings. . .>>
<< . . .Boundary 2020 is a program aimed at re-aligning school boundaries, shifting younger students to high school facilities and potentially closing schools in an effort to align elementary schools better with the high schools their students graduate to, according to the UCDSB.
With the last Gateway Region ARC meeting held on January 7 at Tagwi Secondary School and the last official ARC meeting held on January 14 at North Grenville District High School in Kemptville, the UCDSB is getting ready for the presentation of the School Valuation Reports.
"School Valutaion Reports is . . . a title for the reports that are being developed by the Accommodation Review Committees," Boundary 2020 co-chair Phil Dawes said, adding they are comprised of recommendations "based on the feedback received at the public meetings."
Dawes said the school board is preparing to advertise the School Valuation Report presentations, which are meetings open to the public.
"That will be happening very soon," he added.
The meetings are scheduled toward the end of February and in early March.
"Following the presentation of those reports, there will be a report presented to the Committee of the Whole with recommendations from board staff," Dawes said.
After the committee receives the board staff recommendations, on March 26, area trustees, and anyone else wanting to attend, can offer their responses to the recommendations at a second Committee of the Whole meeting on April 23.
Dawes said the reports will be posted online at the Boundary 2020 website for people who can’t attend the meetings, which are being held at North Grenville in Kemptville.
The school board will be making its final decisions on May 14.
The public report presentations in the Gateway region are on March 3 at Glengarry District High School at 7 p.m. and at Cornwall CVS on March 6, also at 7 p.m.
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School valuation report holds off on conclusions until public meeting
By Matthew Talbot
KEMPTVILLE – Results are in from the Boundary 2020 public consultation meetings, however the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) is not drawing any conclusions until a final report is presented in May 2008. . .>>
<< . . . Four public consultation meetings were held throughout the fall of 2007. From them, the UCDSB gleaned a number of concerns from parents, which were presented in an Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) School Valuation Report.
French as a second language
The Gateway ARC heard support for the continued existence of a core French program in primary grades, but was also made aware of the need to establish a French immersion program within the Glengarry District High School (GDHS) family.
However, there was concern that the establishment of an immersion program at GDHS would cause the closure of Laggan Public School because of declining enrollment.
Meanwhile, feedback from the Laggan Public School group suggested the school be considered French immersion and Maxville preferred to maintain the core French program in primary grades with a later French immersion program at Maxville Public School.
At Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) and Pleasant Corners Public School (PCPS), the ARC heard support for the core French program in primary grades. However, there was concern that a French immersion program at PCPS would not be sustained as students moved to VCI.
Grades 7-12 schools
Changing the grade structure at Eastern Ontario schools was among one of the more controversial aspects to the Boundary 2020 program.
In Glengarry, the Laggan school community expressed concern that moving grade seven and eight students to high school would reduce enrollment at the public school and potentially lead to a closure. There was also concern about the safety of the younger students.
Maxville, meanwhile, also didn’t support the moving of younger students to the high school in Alexandria amid fears of a school closure.
In Vankleek Hill, there appeared to be no objection to the revamped structure and the ARC report stated there were suggestions of including the potential for a grade-seven-to-twelve structure in plans for the new school.
School closures
Parents’ fears of school closures in Maxville stemmed from a statement in the initial board proposal that Maxville Public School would be closed if enrollment continued to decline.
The ARC heard parents and residents express concern that grade restructuring would do just that.
Laggan school parents expressed similar concern.
There were no school closures proposed in Vankleek Hill.
Recommendations
With these concerns in mind, the ARC led to a number of recommendations, which it is presenting to the UCDSB Trustees in May.
Among them are maintaining core French in Glengarry primary grades and establishing French immersion at GDHS.
With the potential for an elementary French immersion program in Glengarry and the possible grade-seven-to-twelve model, the ARC said the potential impact to Laggan must be addressed, however it offered no other comments on the subject.
The ARC also recommended a review of the proposed alignment of Maxville Public School with GDHS.
In Vankleek Hill, meanwhile, the ARC recommended the continuation of the core French program in primary grades and offered suggestions for sustaining a potential French immersion program at PCPS.
Final conclusions will be drawn after the ARC report’s public presentation.
Read full Gateway Region ARC School Valuation Report. . >>
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