Three champions of Wembley Public School are unfazed by a report that recommends Rainbow District School Board add a floor to Princess Anne Public School and presumably close Wembley.
The trio – parents whose children attend the school, Kirk Dopson and Doug Nadorozny, and structural engineer John Hamalainen – said they’ll take their message to school board trustees, who have the final say about what happens to Wembley, and the Ministry of Education.
Their message is twofold. The group says it makes financial sense to repair Wembley, and it appears the board believes it has a much better chance of getting money from the Ministry if it consolidates the two schools instead of repairing Wembley.
They came to their conclusions after attending meetings held by the accommodation review committee and after Hamalainen, a Wembley graduate, conducted his own structural review.
The accommodation review committee wrote its report after holding four public meetings about the future of the school, which the Ministry said was prohibitive to repair.
The review committee is made up school council chair Renee McCormick and member Adria Weresczynsky, school principal Colleen McDonald, teacher Joan Cass, manager of community and strategic planning for the City of Greater Sudbury Paul Baskcomb, manager of Northridge Savings Credit Union Erik Jokinen and school superintendent Fred Law.
On Aug. 25, it will present the report to the administrative council, which will write its own report. The council is made up of director of education Jean Hanson, superintendent of business Diane Cayen-Arnold and school superintendents Fred Law, Norm Blaseg, Lesleigh Dye and Sharon Speir.
The final four steps in the process are: On Sept. 22, the administrative council will present the two reports to the school board trustees. On Oct. 20, the trustees will hear public presentations about the review of Wembley.
On Oct. 27, the administrative council will write a follow-up report based on the input from the public. Finally, on Nov. 17, the trustees will make a final decision about the school.
Dopson and Hamalainen said they're wondering if the review committee has already made its decision.
To read the report, go online to rainbowschools.ca. Click on accommodation. The public can submit comments in writing to the accommodation review committee until Aug. 15 at 69 Young St., Sudbury, Ont. P3E 3G5. E-mail [email protected] or fax 674-8651.
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