DSBN Academy - the Last Post

Image via Wikipedia

Well it is all over but the crying as they say.



The vote is in.



DSBN Academy is a go for this September.



According to reports ninety families expressed an interest in the school.



I don't blame them. If I was in a similar circumstance I would be moving heaven and earth right now to ensure that my child has a spot in the school.



The same way I would have fought to the death to get a seat for my child on a Titanic lifeboat.



But the problem is that not every child can get into this school with its two meals a day, tutoring and mentoring.



It is an American concept that doesn't sit comfortably with Canadians who generally prefer to embrace what is best for the group. We have in the past been willing to accept a few less perks so that everyone stands on a level playing field.



I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Board can accommodate every child who wishes to attend DSBN Academy.



But I still don't like it.

Related articles

• School for only low-income kids dubbed 'educational apartheid' (canada.com)
• School created to combat poverty no longer only for the poor (canada.com)
• Ontario anti-poverty school no longer only for poor students (nationalpost.com)

DSBN Again

I wasn't going to say another word about the DSBN Academy but then I read the article, "Where Was Debate?" in Saturday's St. Catharines Standard.



"We thought people would be more willing to help children in need."  Board Chairman Kevin Maves.

"I don't think anyone would have predicted the amount of negativity that came from trying to help some kids ..."  Trustee Dalton Clark




Jeesh!



After countless radio talk shows, news paper articles and letters to the editor these guys still don't get it.


But worse than that, they see themselves as misunderstood heroes, the shocked public as the Evil Empire.



I doubt that we will ever get the truth of what happened.

It doesn't look as if anyone is going to change his or her story about how this whole idea came to fruition, and personally I don't care at this point.



It is time to move on.



As a taxpayer and whole hearted supporter/believer in the public school system I think the board should postpone the opening of the DSBN Academy for a year while other possibilities are investigated.



And get a grip, Mr. Board Chairman.

Related articles

• Ontario anti-poverty school no longer only for poor students (nationalpost.com)
• Is a decision to separate low-income students novel policy or 'educational apartheid'? (nationalpost.com)
• Critics denounce low-income school in Niagara (cbc.ca)

Taking Back the Board of Education

Image via Wikipedia

While everyone is watching the not-a-hockey game today, I think I'll sneak in another blog about the DSBN Academy.



When I posted 'Hungry for an Education' on January 27th I didn't know how anyone else felt about the fact that the District School Board of Niagara announced, out of the blue, that this September they will be opening a school for 'impoverished', (the Board's word), high school students.


Well, let me clarify. The new school is for some impoverished students.


Which ones?


The smart ones.



Oops, I have to factor that down farther, don't I?



Smart and lucky impoverished children.



They will need to win a lottery to gain admittance.



The idea depressed me.



I suspected that I was just another left wing baby boomer whose time to change the world had passed.


I was just about to climb onto my ice floe when I noticed that the Region of Niagara is reeling.



The DSBN Academy is not sitting well with quite a few people.


Consequently, I read Kalvin Reid's editorial "It's Time For a Popular Uprising", St. Catharines Standard, 2011/02/05 with great interest.



After his interview with former trustee, Larry Lemelin, Mr. Reid said "... taxpayers have to harness what they are feeling ... to take back the school board."



If the people are to take back the Board of Education, the people need to be told how to do it.



How can working people with families get out into the community and into the schools?

Telling them to get off the couch, Mr. Lemelin, is insulting.




Journalists have done their part. They've led us to the water.



 Now we need a leader with sensitivity and courage to show us how to drink.

Related articles

• Critics denounce low-income school in Niagara (cbc.ca)
• School for only low-income kids dubbed 'educational apartheid' (canada.com)
• Debate heats up over Niagara school for poor kids (thestar.com)

Hungry for an Education - DSBN Academy

Image via Wikipedia

The District School Board of Niagara is opening a grade 6 to grade 12 school in September that will accept only students from low income families.

Breakfast and lunch will be available as well as tutoring and mentoring.


The students need to have the academic potential to one day attend and graduate from University or College.

The number of students accepted into the 'DSBN Academy' will be limited.




I have to tell you that I'm not really comfortable with the idea.


For starters after following the years of anguish over the closing of Niagara District High School because of low enrolment, funding etc., the last thing I expected to see when I opened the St. Catharines Standard on Monday was that a new high school was opening.


Second, it isn't a very Canadian idea and that is what will take some getting used to.


In general we Canadians tend to take the 'what's best for the majority' path.

In other words, if the Board's statistics are right and 5,400 students in the district come from an impoverished background, the Canadian way wouldn't have been to pick the brightest, feed them and train them, it would have been to take that money and set up a breakfast or lunch programme across the whole district and feed something nutritious at least once a day to every child, not just the brighter ones.



It's the way of the future, I suppose.

But the whole country seems so much colder today.

Related articles

• School for low-income kids to open in Niagara-region (parentcentral.ca)