By Pepper Parr
April 12th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
REVISED and CORRECTED
It was a regular Parent School Council meeting at Lester B, Pearson high school where principal Loraine Fedurco was taking the audience through what had been happening at the Board of Education where Staff had put forward a recommendation that, if voted for by the trustees, could result in the closing of the school in June of 2018.
Lester B. Pearson high school, named after a former Prime Minister, is the newest of the four high schools that are named in the five options on closure choices that will go before the trustees later this month. It is also the smallest high school in Burlington. One of the five options is to not close any of the high schools in the city.
Ward 4 trustee Richelle Papin
The School Board trustee Richelle Papin was in attendance – they gave her a rough ride.
George Ward
George Ward, a resident was blunt and direct – are you going to vote to keep this school open – Yes or No.
Papin didn’t give a yes or a no answer – she said she wanted to wait until she had all the evidence.
Ward asked again – he asked a total of five times but never got a direct answer
Papin said she wanted to hear what the delegations had to say and she wanted to read what the Director of Education had to say in his report that will be released April 21st.
Unfortunately for Papin she didn’t have an answer ready for the audience. Their question – are you going to support us – was one that had to be expected.
The difficulty for Papin is that she is also the trustee for Nelson high school and there is amongst the five options now before the Director of Education a recommendation that Nelson be closed.
Trustee Papin in a tough spot – two of the four schools that have been named for possible closure are in her ward.
Papin is in the very uncomfortable position of having two schools in her ward that could be closed. Tough spot to be in.
This is Papin’s first term as a trustee – it may well be her last. It all depends on what the Director of Education puts forward.
I did answer the question. I did have an answer and an explanation ready for the question. I didn’t waiver on either my answer or my explanation. He just didn’t like my answer or my explanation. But, there was people there who agreed with both my answer and my explanation. We are in very challenging times for public education in Burlington. I was elected to represent two secondary schools in Burlington and I will continue to do that to the best of my ability.
I was certainly glad to read that the ward representative did not answer the question asked of her. All trustees should be reviewing all the facts given to them and listening to all delegations before making their final decisions…this should not be a political game to win votes at the expensive of our students.