To All Who Will Listen,
I sit here in front of my computer with a blank page. It has taken me this long to write, not because I don’t have anything to say but because I am so overwhelmed with all the things I want to say. I will tell you upfront I do not agree with the UCDSB decision to close Longue Sault Public School and the high school end of Rothwell-Osnabruck along with a slew of other high standard schools in the SD&G area.
I cannot sit by and watch my children be crammed into a high school that is falling apart and over-capacity. I cannot sit by and have my children sit on a bus for over an hour. The length of the ride and the lack of monitoring of the students on the bus make me worry as a mom. I cannot sit by and watch my kids have to possibly change schools three times and maybe never get the benefits of this so called mega-school. I cannot sit by and allow a handful of people use my children as pawns in a game of money, brick and mortar. I don’t understand why our children need to show the ministry how desperate we are for this mega-school when I didn’t sign up for that.
I can see there is a problem with too many spaces all across the board but the way the UCDSB is managing this problem sickens me to my core. Parents and politicians are being told to keep quiet and do what they’re told. The documents for “Building for the Future” are filled with holes and misinformation. How can proper decisions about our children’s future be based on something so wrong? This makes me feel like this document was thrown together with no thought of anyone intelligent reading it. Well people are reading it and are finding all kinds of mistakes. We are an intelligent community with great ideas. Our ideas need to be heard.
What about giving our schools funding for better programs that will help increase the student population? I feel our schools have been stripped of special programs. No wonder people choose other schools. I was recently a part of a brainstorming event at Rothwell-Osnabruck and I hope that our solutions will be heard.
My children’s education matters just as much as the next generation. I will pull them out of the UCDSB if the UCDSB follows through with their “plan” and I will send them to the coterminous board. I will speak up for my children and this is our stand! May our voices be heard!
Sincerely,
Haley Taylor
Former RO Graduate and Parent of two children (soon to be three) who attend L.S.P.S.