Welcome! ARC Parent Information Night 22 May 2012

AGENDA  Background and current status of the ARC  Next steps: June 7 meeting  Questions

Original Accommodation Review Recommendation:  Senior Administration recommends that an ARC be initiated to study the accommodation of elementary students at Bishop Townshend, Lorne Avenue, and St. George’s Public Schools. It is proposed that Lorne Avenue Public School would close and the students would be consolidated at Bishop Townshend and St. George’s Public Schools, with a potential addition and enhancements to Bishop Townshend Public School. 30 January, 2012

Rationale for the original recommendation:  Projected future pupil enrolment and available capacity suggests that a review of Bishop Townshend, Lorne Avenue and St. George’s Public Schools is warranted at this time. Lorne Avenue Public School has the lowest enrolment vs capacity at 27% in the system which equates to 598 empty pupil places based on the capacity report.  capacity of Lorne Ave: 880 students  current enrollment: 213 FTE students

Motion:  “Given the pressure that the school board has with French Immersion spaces, it is recommended that this ARC [Central London Elementary ARC] include Lord Roberts Public School”. 30 January, 2012

Rationale for the motion:  “Lord Roberts is in the same catchment area and is over capacity; this would be a way of looking at the empty spaces in Lorne Avenue; French Immersion seems to be problematic in central London; we seem to be losing students in SK to French Immersion schools; this would identify where French Immersion is another option for Lorne Avenue and, if so, we should have Lord Roberts representation at the table; since we are looking at under capacity, we should also look at over capacity schools in the area; it would be an option of having dual track for French Immersion at Lorne Avenue not converting Lorne Avenue to full French Immersion.”

Note:  Previously there had never been a school brought into a TVDSB ARC by a motion…

Motion sent to the trustees:  Given the pressure that the school board has with French Immersion spaces, it is recommended that the Central London Elementary ARC include Lord Roberts French Immersion Public School.  The recommendation was approved on motion of P. Jaffe, seconded by P. Sattler and carried by a 5-4 margin. 21 February 2012

Next Steps:  Each school in an ARC is represented by a Citizen Representative, elected by the parental community at a duly held meeting and a  Parent Representative, elected by the school council  These elections were held on 28 February and 6 March, respectively.

Our representatives are:  Citizen representative: Brent Jesney  Parent representative: Kate Rapson

Addition to the ARC  In addition, the ARC added another community representative when our school was brought in Tom Weihmayr

ARC Meetings  2 of 4 meetings have already been held, at Lorne Ave, and at Bishop Townshend on April 2 and April 30  The next one is here, at LR, on June 7  The fourth one is scheduled for September 20, 2012 at St. George’s  The public is invited to speak to the committee for 5 minutes, by applying 8 business days in advance of a meeting

Suggestions heard at the ARC meetings:  An initial suggestion from the ARC has been to make Lorne Avenue School (LA) a dual-track French Immersion school  This would presume changing Lord Roberts (LR) boundaries, taking part of our catchment area, most likely to the east of Adelaide, and affecting some 100+ students currently at LR  LA enrollment could become students  A suggestion from one of the community representatives of the ARC has been to move the entire population of LR over to LA. The ARC did not agree to look into the costs of this move  Another suggestion was to look at the costs of moving both Bishop Townshend and St. George’s over to LA. The ARC did agree to look into this

What you can do…  Tell the ARC what this school means to your family, what this building, in this neighbourhood, signifies to our community.

What you can do… MAKE A PRESENTATION TO THE ARC:  Lord Roberts is an incredible asset to the city, the Board, and central London:  history, architecture, sense of school spirit, overall performance of students, excellent staff and extra-curricular activities, wonderful connection to historic Woodfield

Another possibility…  The amazing investment of time, energy, and money that have gone into Lord Roberts from the school’s families, teaching staff, the Woodfield neighbourhood, and the TVDSB:  We have high-quality playground equipment which, when installed, was one of only two such sets in Canada.  Our stained glass is one-of-a-kind.  Our gardens are lovely, and were among the first naturalized spaces in the TVDSB, thanks to teachers and parents who cared.  We have had all new, energy efficient windows installed, in the historical style, in the last 3 years, by the TVDSB.  Woodfield Community purchased, and donated, the historically accurate doors at the front of the school!  We are in the midst of renovating the library and updating the collection to current, Board standards.

In addition…  The dual-track FI program in Lorne Ave suggested by the ARC is not something council supports, as this option would either:  involve a boundary change and remove some of our families on the eastern side of our catchment area; OR move all of Lord Roberts to Lorne Ave. Either option divides our community/friendships  Moreover, other uses of the Lorne Avenue building would be required, as these options do not fill the 880 spaces  In addition, the TVDSB’s preferred delivery mode for the FI program is single-track for elementary  Addressing LR overcrowding in a future boundary review would be preferred as this will address French Immersion in a coordinated city-wide process once full-day- kindergarten is implemented in 2015

You may also write a letter  If you are unable to address the committee, you are most welcome to send the ARC a letter, outlining your concerns and comments

Questions:  Timeline of an ARC from last public consultation to presentation of their report:  Within 30 days there is a meeting where the AR presents its findings and receives input regarding the report  Within 15 days the ARC will submit a final report  Within 30 days the administration submits a response  Then, the trustees give 60 days notice of their intent to vote, “and provide a timeline for public input to the board of trustees prior to their final vote”

THANK YOU! With your support, council will continue to work toward representing the families of Lord Roberts French Immersion Public School. We encourage you to speak with council members at any time, via at