04-21-2007, 09:08 PM
Hi Everyone,
Yes, we're still working on the school campaign for Whitby Shores, but there just hasn't been anything to report until yesterday.
Three of us working on the campaign met with our Whitby Trustees, Christine Winters and John Dolstra, on Friday night. The meeting went well, and both Trustees filled us in on what's going on.
Three Education ministers later, and with an Ontario election coming up in the fall, the Durham Board, and several other boards across Ontario are STILL WAITING for their funding. The DDSB submitted a plan several months ago, on which Whitby Shores was included, for funding consideration for a school, but have not heard back.
The million dollar question is...will we see funding come in before or after the Ontario provincial election? I think that's anyone's guess.
Until we get those new homes built on the old psych lands, it's going to be a tough sell because were competing with the insane growth of North Whitby. In addition, new Provincial policy states that they won't even consider building a new school unless 80% of the school population exists. So, if the province is building schools with a min. enrol. of 400, then Whitby Shores has to, as of this minute, have 320 students registered in the Durham public school system. Right now, we're about 100 short.
So, as of this minute, there is nothing to report. But, no news is good news and the longer it takes to hear about funding the more time it gives those developers to get things building.
We'll be trying to get an update on developments sometime this week.
Both Christine and John know where we're coming from and want to give us a school, but it will just come down to numbers.
We're also thinking about starting another letter writing campaign, but this time to the Minister of Education. I will post the details once we get things sorted.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact John or Christine at any time.
Thanks,
Nan
Yes, we're still working on the school campaign for Whitby Shores, but there just hasn't been anything to report until yesterday.
Three of us working on the campaign met with our Whitby Trustees, Christine Winters and John Dolstra, on Friday night. The meeting went well, and both Trustees filled us in on what's going on.
Three Education ministers later, and with an Ontario election coming up in the fall, the Durham Board, and several other boards across Ontario are STILL WAITING for their funding. The DDSB submitted a plan several months ago, on which Whitby Shores was included, for funding consideration for a school, but have not heard back.
The million dollar question is...will we see funding come in before or after the Ontario provincial election? I think that's anyone's guess.
Until we get those new homes built on the old psych lands, it's going to be a tough sell because were competing with the insane growth of North Whitby. In addition, new Provincial policy states that they won't even consider building a new school unless 80% of the school population exists. So, if the province is building schools with a min. enrol. of 400, then Whitby Shores has to, as of this minute, have 320 students registered in the Durham public school system. Right now, we're about 100 short.
So, as of this minute, there is nothing to report. But, no news is good news and the longer it takes to hear about funding the more time it gives those developers to get things building.
We'll be trying to get an update on developments sometime this week.
Both Christine and John know where we're coming from and want to give us a school, but it will just come down to numbers.
We're also thinking about starting another letter writing campaign, but this time to the Minister of Education. I will post the details once we get things sorted.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact John or Christine at any time.
Thanks,
Nan