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m Committee members can opt to force a noâ€"decision or look at } * 7 the two remaining choices and move to consensus. The greenfield site is an unlikely prospect at best. The locaâ€" | 4 a e t e SC OO tion of a potential greenfield site is severely restricted by the township‘s official plan and provincial government restricâ€" j tions regarding farm land. If a site were found in the allowable forward ?}Il'ea, and i_fdit could. tie purchasedtfc()irbantfllgljceeabl(le1 priceaand a Y e required approvals were granted by the township and the Colh care â€" iithonr CLG â€" Hak 12 / OK province, and the school board accepted the extra cost of buyâ€" t wasn‘t about winning or losing, although that was the ing land when it has another suitable piece within a few kiloâ€" | Ifeeling many had when they left the Castleton and South meters, and if no one opposed the choice at the Ontario Municâ€" | Cramahe Public School Pupil Accommodation Review ipal Board, and it was all done within eight months, it would | Committee meeting March 3. be almost within sight of Castleton anyway â€" hardly the comâ€" | Parents and staff from the two schools and members of the promise the South Cramahe families were seeking. community were faced with two questions at the meeting. . While oneican argue it‘s easy for those who appeared to Should they.consolidate the two school communities? Where "win" to be magnanimous, the feeling at the committee table should a new school be located? on March 3 was genuine. The suggestion to call the new school There were no other options. If the committee decided not to Cramahe United was a sincere gesture made by someone amalgamate, the schools would close anyway and the kids acknowledging the pain. * A would be shipped off to schools in the Municipality of Is this the best possible world for those who live south of Brighton. | County Road 2? No. / | â€" With agreement they should amalgamate, the thorny issue Is this the best possible choice for those who live south of | f arose about where to put the new school. There were three 401? Maybe, when you take into account the rules which goy. choices â€" on one of the two current school properties or on a | ern school maintenance and student accommodation, new "greenfield" site. t $ It is a little gratuitous to suggest the South Cramahe par | It became apparent relatively quickly that the South * ~ents should just suck it up and move on. That‘s simply not fair _ #a Cramahe site was the least attractive option. For some of the 50 But. the rules which govern having a school in our municiâ€" ‘ ' in attendance, thereâ€"was an expectation coming into the meetâ€" pality, and the availability of provincial financing, dictate it ing that the South Cramahe property would not be chosen. must be done this way. ‘ They were ready to accept a "neutral" greenfield site. Are there better ways? Probably, | Perhaps if they had known ahead of the meeting the restricâ€" But, this is far superior to the way it was handled only a few | tions faced in obtaining a greenfield site, the parents from .. years ago when board officials dropped their decisions on South Cramahe might have been more amenable to considerâ€" unsuspecting school communities, mandating change without } ing the Castleton location. But they didn‘t. reasoned input from those most affected. g And, after accepting that South Cramahe would close, going Who is to know what Associate Director of Education the next step to choosing the "other school" site was clearly too : Sherry Summersides‘ preference is? Perhaps that‘s irrelevant, painful, too big an emotional concession when they had â€" Using the model required by law, we have been taken this far already suffered one loss. € ‘While she has guided the process, she cannot control the variâ€" Several participants at the March 3 meeting at Castleton j ables which govern selection. ; ; pointed to the importance of the bond families feel toward We can take the next steps ourselves, or fall back on the hisâ€" | their "school community". It is the cen_tre of the lives of their toric approach where Ms. Summersides presents the facts, and children for 10 years. Accepting its loss is tough. | her opinion to the trustees, with no mandate from the public, | But, if the committee members are going to complete the â€" leaving if for the board trustees to decide. | rest of the task assigned to them when they started this jourâ€" â€" It‘s not much of a choice on April 10 for those who face the | ney, together they must now find a location for the new impending closure of their school â€" but that was going to K Cramahe public school. happen anyway, The community and the committee members from South * What remains now is for residents of Cramahe to decide if Cramahe have to remember this is all about retaining a school they will move forward together, or leave progress to the in.Cramahe when, a little over a year ago, we were losing, both bureaucrats. ] schools. It‘s not about losing. Regardless of the outcome, when On April 10, we will know the answer. the committee meets again April 10, Cramahe should get a new + school, and it will be better equipped than either of the two f § Schools it replaces. f " |