Concerned Madoc Township School parents make their last-ditch pleas to save the school from closure, at the Ann Street Education Centre, on April 26, 2017. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)
A few recurring themes were presented by concerned Madoc Township School parents, as they had one final chance to voice concerns on the proposed closure of the school.
Twelve delegations were made to the Hastings Prince Edward Enrolment and Capacity Committee, all against the proposal to move elementary students to Madoc Public School and shift grade seven and eight into the high school.
Holly Kormann told the committee it’s the high school that’s the problem, because there’s not enough there to keep students from going to Belleville.
Other issues parents have with the plan is that there’s not enough green space in town and added buses into Madoc would be a traffic nightmare.
Randy Gray has made presentations at all of the public input sessions throughout the process and handed out dimes to the committee, as a way to express the lack of green space students would have if moved in town.
Madoc Township Councillors Carrie Smith and Randy Rowe highlighted the negative effect closing the rural school would have on the township and many parents noted that MTPS has the highest EQAO scores in the board and that the school ranks in the top 12% in the province.
Denise Gray told the committee to think hard about closing the township school, since it already addresses all of the needs of the community.
There were also issues with the timeline of the closure, if it were to happen and with inaccurate information that was presented in reports throughout the process.
Overall, those parents feel their input has no bearing on the actual decision, since nothing has changed from the initial report in November.
Director of Education Mandy Savery Whiteway tells Quinte News things could still change.
The Accomodation and Enrolment Committee still has to hear final input from parents in Belleville, Quinte West and Prince Edward County and a final decision will be made by the board of directors on June 19, 2017.
