No accommodation reviews for two years in Rainbow Schools

At the annual Accommodation Review Meeting of Rainbow District School Board held on January 31, 2012, trustees supported a staff recommendation that there be no accommodation reviews in Rainbow Schools over the next two years. “In making this recommendation, we considered both local and provincial factors,” said Director of Education Norm Blaseg.

Rainbow District School Board staff is currently working on three construction projects – Algonquin Road Public School, R.L. Beattie Public School and Sudbury Secondary School. A new construction project, the revitalization of MacLeod Public School, is scheduled to begin this spring.

Director Blaseg added that there is tremendous uncertainty at the provincial level. Recommendations in the soon to be released Drummond Report, if adopted by the Province, could have an impact on the Board’s budget. “For instance, changes to class sizes would affect our on-the-ground capacity calculations which are used to determine surplus space in our schools,” said Director Blaseg. He added: “Collective agreements expire at the end of August 2012. This may also have an impact on our budget.”

“In reviewing the current climate within the Board and across Ontario, it became clear to us that the system requires stability at this time,” said Director Blaseg. “We will revisit the possibility of further accommodation reviews in the future.”

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Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217.