With the Bluewater Board of Education looking at declining enrolment and the possibility of school closures, its time for the community to get more involved in education decisions.
People for Education Executive Director Annie Kidder tells Bayshore Broadcasting news, what has happened in Walkerton and Owen Sound with the Accommodation Review is a perfect example of that.
The ARC committees in both communities received and used public imput to come up with their recommendations concerning the future of four schools in Owen Sound and three in Walkerton.
Kidder says its time that this type of thinking took place at the Education Ministry to make some long term community oriented plans for education.
She says just tinkering with the funding formula is not the answer and the Provincial government must develop a strategy over the long term to deal with declining enrolment.
Kidder also says more efforts must be made to keep smaller schools open and ensure students in rural area get the same educational opportunities as those in larger urban based facilities.
She says both urban and rural schools have the capacity to act as thriving hubs for their communities, but that requires greater flexibility in education funding and more cooperation across several sectors .
Kidder says those sectors include the Province, municipal governments and various social service agencies
