Wembley supporters won’t toe the line

BY JANET GIBSON

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 rather than repair Wembley. The report was written by the accommodation review committee after four public meetings were held about the future of the school which the Ministry has said is prohibitive to repair.

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. Dopson and Hamalainen said, firstly, it makes financial sense to repair Wembley and, secondly, it appears the board believes it has a 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 committee and after Hamalainen, a Wembley graduate, conducted his own structural review.

“It was quite obvious the committee is missing the point of what the public is saying,” Dopson said.

Hamalainen added in an e-mail to Northern Life: “ It was apparent from the June 26 ARC meeting that both myself and Kirk attended, the primary motive of the committee is to get the maximum amount of dollars from the Ministry, and repairing Wembley won’t achieve that goal. Despite pointing out many ways of doing so, they still refuse to acknowledge or consider that Wembley can be repaired for far less than the number they have come up with. Their comment to that is the Ministry imposed these numbers on them and they are obligated to use them whether they agree with them or not.”

The school board is made up of 10 elected trustees including chair Judy Hunda and vice-chair Tyler Campbell. “It’s an error to assume our minds are made up,” Hunda said at the fourth public meeting on June 16. “The last thing we ever want to do is close the school.”

She said Princess Anne Public School qualifies for money from the Ministry to create classrooms that will reduce primary class sizes. “The money can’t be moved from Princess Anne to Wembley,” she said.

The addition to Princess Anne will cost at least $7 or $8 million, Hamalainen said. He estimated repairs to Wembley would cost $2 or $2.5 million. That contrasts with the board estimate of $4.2 million.

The board makes its final decision about the future of the school on Nov. 17. 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 705.674.8651.