Group awaits ministry decision on Hamilton school closure

Supporters of Prince Philip Elementary School are anxiously waiting to see if the Ministry of Education appoints a facilitator to examine the decision to close their school.

A group of parents filed a formal appeal in May disputing the decision made by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The group argues that in deciding to close the Rifle Range Road school and move its students to George R. Allan, the board acted in bad faith and failed to follow its own process.

The province has until the end of July to decide if it will appoint a facilitator. Craig Burley, a lawyer and parent of two Prince Philip students, is confident it will.

"We meet all of the requirements," he said. "It's clearly moving on that direction now. It's what we've been hoping for."

The board voted in April to close the kindergarten-to-Grade 5 school, which had 193 students this year. The parent group collected 141 signatures of parents and people who attended public meetings on the issue. It filed the appeal on May 30.

Among the complaints: that the school board failed to properly determine the capital needs of Prince Philip and the other schools in its cluster — Dalewood Middle School and George R. Allan, where Prince Philip students will be transferred if the school closes next June.

The accommodation review was struck, Burley said, because capital needs deemed Prince Philip and Dalewood prohibitive to repair.

But that was caused by a clerical error in the board's software system that analyzes the needs of its buildings. The square footage of the schools was entered wrong, Burley said, which made them look too expensive to repair.

The board acknowledges a clerical error. As a result of the mishap, George R. Allan received $1.4 million in capital funds, while Prince Philip and Dalewood received only $120,000 and $70,000 over the same period.

Ministry reviewing case

Anita McGowan, parent and member of the accommodation review committee (ARC) for the cluster of schools, said she learned of the clerical error during the ARC process.

"As a committee reviewing over 1,000 pages of documentation, that picture wasn't coming out to us, that a school closure was required," she said.

The appeal charges that the board ignored the final ARC report, and that the ARC wasn't given adequate profiles of the schools it was studying.

The board responded on June 29. Its response states that trustees knew of the clerical error before the ARC process, and that the ARC acts only in an advisory capacity.

Ministry of Education spokesperson Derek Luk confirmed Wednesday that the ministry is examining the issue. It hasn't made a decision yet if a facilitator will be appointed.

Worry for the neighbourhood

Burley's group has other concerns. Among them, Burley said, is that with three new high schools planned in Hamilton, there won't be money left to renovate George R. Allan to accommodate Prince Philip students.

He and McGowan also worry about the impact the closure will have on the fabric of their neighbourhood.

But the appeal only deals with process, and Burley feels they have a case.

"By the end of this month, we expect to hear that a facilitator has been appointed," he said.

The board conducted a broad accommodation review recently that also resulted in the closure of eight Hamilton high schools and a request for ministry funding to build three new ones.