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Manitoba
is moving to halt school closures and provide additional support for community
schools, parents from that province report. If passed, Bill 28 will place a
moratorium on closures and introduce more stringent decision-making guidelines.
“We gave a report and presentation to our school division and to the
minister's office. Within a month of this, the attached bill came out,” school
advocate Victoria Schindle said in an email.
For the first time, community consensus will now
factor into closure decisions. According to the proposed Strengthening Local
Schools Act: “A school board can close a school only if it demonstrates that there
is a consensus among the affected parents and residents that the school be closed.”
As well, schools in low socio-economic areas will be safeguarded and provided
additional funds.
Schindle said her own school division was “pursuing a school closure policy
that had no consideration about our children’s well-being, their education, and
the student’s relationship with their community.” Parents were also concerned
about increased school fees and long bus ride times. The Bill proposes caps on
bus time, to be determined through regulations.
Parents have been asked to comment on the Bill and are
seeking advice from parents in other provinces. “We would like as many people
as possible to take a look at the proposed bill, and perhaps point out a
few places that we could research a bit further or point out
areas that may be of concern,” said Schindle.
Anyone with advice can send comments through the webmaster
of this site.
Bill 28: http://www.web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/sess/b028e.php
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