London's technical high school is being 'repurposed,' board official says

An alternative London, Ont., high school that offers technical and co-op courses for students with special education needs will stop offering that programming and be converted into a traditional school for all students, a head of the school board told CBC News.

B. Davison Secondary School offers courses at the locally developed and workplace levels, and supports students who want to enter the workplace directly after graduation. Earlier this week, a superintendent told the London Free Press there are "no plans" to close the school. 

But while the doors won't be closed, the school — which many credit with helping them find work and community that they weren't able to access through traditional high school — will no longer keep the unique model that set it apart from others in the Thames Valley District School Board, said Mark Fisher, the board's director of education.

"We're going to re-purpose it," Fisher said. "We need that space. Our city is growing. We need to have students in that spot." 

Fisher called reports about the school's closing "misinformation," and said the school was designed "in an era where our traditional high schools didn't have alternate programs for many students with special education needs." 

Enrolment has been declining for more than a decade and "quite frankly, the metrics have not indicated high rates of success over time," Fisher said. But those who want to keep the school open say it's because school board officials have stopped promoting the school and enrolling new students. 

"That school changed my life," one student wrote on a Facebook page created to apply pressure on the school board to save the school. "I found what I wanted to do with my life. I now have a job in the catering industry and I also do hair. I also learned how to be a better person." 

B. Davison is on Trafalgar Street. It opened in 2014 following the amalgamation of two vocational schools, Sir George Ross and Thames secondary schools. 

'Culture of inclusion'

A former teacher wrote on Facebook: "What I experienced at those schools was a culture of inclusion for the students. It was a place where all where made to feel comfortable with their levels of ability."

Students take co-ops and courses in hospitality, horticulture, cosmetology and welding, among many others. 

Proponents of the school, including the daughter of the educator after whom the school is named, say it allows students who need alternative education to thrive.  

But students can get those programs at other schools across the city, Fisher said.

"What we have done as a district over the last 10, 12, 15 years is increase the range of programming opportunities that are available at every single school in the district. These may be increased opportunities in technical realms, hands-on realms and special education rooms." 

Students shouldn't be forced to go to a school outside of their area to get the programs they need, Fisher added. 

But going to a building where the teachers and students understood each other and were mindful of different learning abilities was key for some to succeed, said Janine Davison, the daughter of teacher Basil Davison, after whom the school was named and who is fighting for the alternative programs to remain. 

"This school gives them a different opportunity to learn. They get a positive, more hands-on learning experience," Janine said. 

A petition to keep B. Davison as an alternative high school has more than 600 signatures.