Windsor FOS Working Group Discussion - March 18th

The Windsor FOS discussion last night began with Ian Abercrombie providing a more detailed rationale concerning the potential replacement of Blueridge, Lynnmour, Plymouth and Seymour Heights with 2 new schools at Seymour Heights and Lynnmour.
Roundtable Discussion
The discussion then provided an opportunity for the groups involved to share their positions on the potential closure of schools and on the budget discussions from the previous meeting.

• First the group agrees that we all want to have a long term plan and stability in the area and we recognize that the immediate decision needs to consider the longer term replacement plans.
• Second we all agree that we need to do everything we can to ensure the best possible transition for students to the new configuration.

The time required to allow open consideration of different positions meant that the group struggled to gain momentum in terms of comparing the advantages and disadvantages of different potential configurations of the schools for next year. It is important that everyone be able to openly share perspective in this process but doing so takes time and the group may need more time than the one meeting remaining to cover all the issues.
Homework: Considering the alternatives
To help things along and prepare for the next discussion the group has been asked to do our homework and consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of the possible configurations for Sept 2010 in a number of areas and to bring both that feedback and identification of potential transition issues for discussion at the next meeting on April 1st.
What are the pluses, minuses and issues if next year students will be attending Blueridge and Plymouth, Blueridge and Seymour Heights, or Plymouth and Seymour Heights?
For each potential scenario we have been asked to consider these issues and submit feedback to the group by March 26th under the headings:

• Transportation to and from the school
• Impact on School Community
• Safety
• Opportunity for extra-curricular programs
• Opportunity for community use
• Access to new educational technologies
• Impact on children
• Physical Plant
• Opportunities  for Community development

To that list I would also add consideration of:

• Demographics
• School and Classroom Utilization
• Location
• Classroom opportunities

If you have considerations + or - that you'd like us to share with the working group please share them with us and we will get them on the list. (send to info@northvanpac.org)