- "Insufficient registration, yet they fail to mention how many children who live directly across the street from the school were turned away because they are not within the boundary as they've chosen to draw it. Farewell public education, you're too exclusive for my family."
- "Someone should sue them for this nonsense."
- "Mowhawk has 5. Most times they are chock full. My daughter has 30. I would have sent her to Pineland this year with my older one if they would allow optional attendance."
- "The integrity of this board is highly questionable when they won't even share how many students actually signed up. Whatever happened to transparency in decision making?"
Dear Director and Secretary of the Board,
I am writing to express my dismay at your lack of transparency to the people of Burlington, specifically to those in the community of Pineland. It is my understanding that you failed to advertise the proposed deadline of February 15th to meet the enrolment for the JK program. I am asking you therefore to extend said deadline till such a time that you have advertised this information to the public in that community.
This is clearly a process issue and HDSB have failed the process of informing the community of Pineland that you were ending the English Track programming if you didn’t receive the required 15 students to continue with that program.
It was mentioned in a meeting in the Fall that you would be sending information out to the community to advise them of these changes, yet you have failed to keep your word on this. It should therefore be determined that you are not able to cancel the program until you have shown through the media and any other form of news release to new parents, or through back-packs that at least an honest attempt to inform parents was made.
I would appreciate more open and transparent business between the families and HDSB. How can students be expected to learn honesty and transparency when our very own school board does not practice what it preaches.
Sincerely,
(Name withheld)
I have reviewed the communcations on the Pineland issue and find it to be above and beyond our normal procedures for boundary reviews. Please see the list below:
- Created a banner to advertise to the Pineland broader community who might not have been aware of the deadline extension
- Home Notification was sent home in early January to all Pineland families (attached)
- Information Flyer was created (attached) and has been distributed to families who have inquired about kindergarten at Pineland
- Updated information about the Pineland JK deadline has been posted on the Bd website (see link:http://www.hdsb.ca/aboutus/Planning/Reviews/Pages/ERA103BoundaryReview2014.aspx)
- Information posted on Pineland PS website home page
- An Ad was posted in the local papers, advertising the Pineland JK registration deadline, on Februrary 12/13th.
Above and beyond the communications initiated by the Board, there was also an extensive article in the Burlington Post on Feb. 6th (by Tim Whitnell) on the possible extension to the phase-out of Pineland Kindergarten.
David Euale
Director of Education
Halton D. S. B.
Dear Director and Secretary of the Board,
I’m sorry Director, I still believe that the board did not notify parents fairly about this. My understanding is that the banner that you had put up was only put up recently and that blowing in the wind as much as it did, you couldn’t really read it anyway.
As for advertising in the paper on February 12th/13th…..you have got to be kidding me right? You gave a deadline of Feb 15th, which was a Sunday and you put this in the paper on the 12th. The very same weekend that is Family Day weekend, when many families may well have taken their families away and not been around to see this information in the local paper.
How intriguing that the first day back after the holiday weekend you issue a news release informing parents that they have now lost the opportunity to have the JK program saved at Pineland. This is deplorable and I am insisting that the Board of Trustees take a close look at this situation and give an extension to the English program enrolment. I find it very interesting too that you give yourselves a big old pat on the backs for thinking that you have gone the extra mile to relay this information to the community of Pineland. This is absolutely intentional and lacks transparency and I am shocked that you think your staff did a good job at communicating this matter.
The only people who tried to share this information with the community were its local politician and other concerned parents. When is the English program going to be given the same face time that the FI program is? When is this board going to stop transporting children out of their communities to deal with the fact that they cannot PLAN schools the way they are supposed to?.
I am asking for this matter to be before the Trustees at the next meeting and that an extension be granted to allow the parents of the Pineland community to be fully aware of the direction that HDSB are going, and that the English program be promoted on equal footing with that of FI.
I thank you for your response and I ask that you please share my concerns and those of other concerned citizens with the Board of Trustees around the Pineland decision.
Sincerely
(Name withheld)
Please read our comments in red.
Respectfully,
HFFINS
On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 6:55 PM, David Euale <[email protected]> wrote:
I have reviewed the communcations on the Pineland issue and find it to be above and beyond our normal procedures for boundary reviews Then the "normal procedures" need to change. We remind you "School board trustees have a responsibility to all the families in their community – not just their neighbours, and not just families with school-aged children." With the decision to remove English and FDK, the taxpayers of Halton should have been widely notified. Please see the list below:
- Created a banner to advertise to the Pineland broader community who might not have been aware of the deadline extension - myopic in scope -- were real estate agents notified to let potential buyers know?
- Home Notification was sent home in early January to all Pineland families (attached) myopic in scope -- only captures Pineland families
- Information Flyer was created (attached) and has been distributed to families who have inquired about kindergarten at Pineland people without children in the school system are not dialed into school registration deadlines and need more time to be notified - when was this flyer distributed?
- Updated information about the Pineland JK deadline has been posted on the Bd website (see link: http://www.hdsb.ca/aboutus/Planning/Reviews/Pages/ERA103BoundaryReview2014.aspx)
- Information posted on Pineland PS website home page the removal of FDK and English from a school within an English School Board is MAJOR NEWS and should therefore be one of the first things any visitor to the HDSB website sees. Where it is posted now, a visitor needs to click on 3 different pages to find the information, which does follow the 3-click rule, but you are assuming a new parent would know what they are looking for. A new parent would start by looking under the "PARENT INFO" or "PROGRAMS and SERVICES" tab or search "KINDERGARTEN" in the search box. Someone without children in the school system would never look under HDSB Departments nor would they be aware that "boundary reviews" could mean NO KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM! This is not a user-friendly website -- information is not easily accessible.
- An Ad was posted in the local papers, advertising the Pineland JK registration deadline, on Februrary 12/13th. This is incredibly offensive that you actually think that the Thursday before the long weekend of Family Day and the Sunday deadline was sufficient notice to the non-Pineland community.
Above and beyond the communications initiated by the Board, there was also an extensive article in the Burlington Post on Feb. 6th (by Tim Whitnell) on the possible extension to the phase-out of Pineland Kindergarten. Because on the 3rd of February WE, a network of concerned parents from Burlington, Oakville and Milton, asked the Burlington Post to let the community know - NOT the school board (see attached). There has been door knocking, emailing, calling, etc. trying to get the word out because HDSB failed to do so effectively. HDSB could have done so much more to let the taxpayers know, as is your obligation. Instead, the bare minimum was done which keeps people in the dark, where you seem to like them. And then first thing on February 17th there is an official letter from HDSB stating not enough children signed up and therefore JK is no more at Pineland. We hope one day when you reflect on how this was handled, you will see the errors and missteps and realize that this was not done openly and honestly and with dignity. We hope you see that random, artificial boundaries that you create and ridiculously short deadlines do not build better communities.