Our Ward 7 Trustee, Irene Atkinson, made an eye-opening presentation by to the Council in January about maintenance and overcrowding issues facing Ward 7 schools (read the details in the January 2011 meeting minutes). Council decided to encourage parents to to demand changes in the way our school is maintained and programmed by writing to:
- The Honourable Leona Dombrowsky (Minister of Education),
- The Honourable Bob Chiarelli (Minister of Infrastructure), and
- Copy to our local MPP Cheri DiNovo.
To make it easy, our communications committee has drafted two letters you can use, asking the government to:
- Invest in repairs and maintenance to school buildings. For example, at Runnymede, replacement of the 80-year-old windows and a proper heating system are continuously delayed.
- Invest in technology. New schools are equipped with SMART Boards and computers in every classroom, while older schools like ours have limited access and will need to fundraise from parents to acquire this technology.
- Properly address the space challenges that full-day kindergarten will present at Runnymede.
- Adopt a “whole of school” approach when implementing new policies. For example, enrolment caps of 20 students in the primary year classes have led to class sizes of 38 students in senior years. The implementation of full-day kindergarten will cause similar crowding issues.
The attached word document contains the text of both letters, along with recipient addresses/emails (either delivery method is great).
Your participation is completely optional. The letters cover two issues that Council believes require action. If you do not support the viewpoints expressed in these, we encourage you to write about those that you do.
Thank you for your interest and support for improving our school.
