She starts one of her sentences by stating “in my opinion”. Ms.Smith, the whole editorial is “your opinion”. But let’s look carefully at what you are saying. You claim the School Board should never get involved with developers that are in the planning stages of a new sub-division. Seriously? Did you graduate from anything? Very little research would show you that all new sub-divisions have to ensure that properties are set aside for just such planning issues. In fact, not only the Elementary School, but now the Public Secondary School have property that was set aside years ago. These properties have been part of the (admittedly slow) planning process for years. She really needs to dig a little deeper in her research. School boards and property owners (developers) negotiate purchases of these key locations once the population demands fuel the need for these schools. So, as growth happens, these new sub-divisions finally justify building and moving forward with these projects. At the same time, development charges for the entire sub-division feed the coffers to ensure proper infrastructure and services are paid for by that development growth. It all works TOGETHER and these processes are generations old.

The Elementary School is presently under construction and guess what…. The homes in that area are only now being occupied.

The need for Smith to lay blame at the feet of the developers and the School Board is simply preposterous. It is irresponsible to publish these unfounded criticisms.

Just go back to the last 6 or 8 Funding Requests the School Boards have submitted to the Province and it becomes apparent, the blame for delays lays solely at the feet of those who approve funding.

At least L Smith doesn’t use the same statistics as Mayor Smith in exaggerating the number of children being bussed just to make her point.

She is loose with the line “Folly of Errors” but doesn’t say what those errors are. She does claim a 7 Million (50%) increase in construction costs. What’s the point here? Contracts that have followed approved financing and timelines may have additional costs by the time they are enacted. Again…. If the Province said build… build now… here is your money, then the school board would have moved ahead faster.

This third paragraph lays out her true intent, which I believe to be… Just bash the school board. Maybe BB edited out her content, but what is it she wants amalgamated into one system? Is she simply talking about eliminating the Catholic School Board? Is she talking about eliminating all school boards and simply allowing the Ministry of Education to build and operate all schools? Come on Smith, say what you mean! My humble opinion is that the system itself is just fine. Sure, a religious based seperate board may one day blend into our public system, but that’s a debate for another day. Bill 98 and the Regulations that will soon support it will perhaps adjust the “system” to ensure it keeps up with modern growth explosions, but the “system” seems to work fine.

Smiths contention is that it is a “beurocratic mess” that is somehow to blame, in fact she quotes “considerable funding” in the same sentence. So, if you ever bump into Smith, ask her specifically what funding she feels the beurocrats are abusing and exactly how?

So, back to my earlier comments. Remember I said that the Regulations are not yet in place to facilitate the government direction. Smith says what is needed to get shovels in the ground sooner is the “move by the Ford government”.

But this Cherry Picking of all of these individual quotes and submitting them in such a way to make those in the system look bad is just wrong. It actually tears apart the VERY IMPORTANT relationships our Political Representatives SHOULD have with our school boards.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T is what is missing from her research and her composition. She is right that streamlining design makes sense, but then follows up with a stupid comment that says “don’t buy land at the mercy of the developer”. Really? So, instead of insulting developers and school boards, why doesn’t the real estate professional Smith (either one) step in and tell us precisely how and when to negotiate these deals instead.

Finally, Smith cuts to the chase and tells the School Board to “work with the local municipal council”. I guess she really feels the Municipality should decide on education spending. I think she is an advocate of municipal health care spending as well.

She ends her tirade by saying “Stop with this arrogant, self centered attitude that seems to permeate school boards and their management that suggest they know best.” She actually has the ignorant audacity to close with “They don’t!” (I use the word “ignorant” intentionally as it infers she is uneducated or unsophisticated).

So, I say stop echoing the distain for the school board that the Smith Council has displayed for years. Instead, do a little research when writing to an editor. Put together informed, researched dialogue.

In order for any school to be built in Ontario, it requires the cooperation of the Municipal Host Community, The pertinent Board of Education and the Province of Ontario, through not only the Minister Of Education but also through the Premiers Office.

An approved Capital Funding Request from a board requires approval of the Ministry of Education. All of this requires Provincial Budgets that support such costs.

1. The Elementary School presently being built by the Public School Board. It has undergone a process, has been planned, requested, approved, funded and is now being built. Through this long (established) process, the Municipality has been not only a host community, but also a partner, committing funding and programming for shared space. I have recently seen maps laying out the new school boundaries for attendance. It is a win/win and the only down side is that it could have been utilized a year or two earlier. When looking at growth around the entire Province, that’s not an entirely unexpected bump in the road.

2. The Public School Board has submitted a request for funding twice now to build a Secondary School in Wasaga Beach. The first submission went in during COVID years and I don’t think any schools were funded that year. The submission that went in late last year went in with improvements to the previous submissions in that the Board now has a location selected and apparently the purchase negotiated. Maps have shown its location in the Sunnidale Sub-Division. That looks after that earlier aspect of ensuring the projects are shovel ready. I guess it doesn’t meet Councils hope of building “downtown”, but that SHOULDN’T matter, should it? How could this submission have been improved further to help the chances of funding? What if the Municipality had submitted a letter of support WITH the request instead of forwarding something weeks after it was in the hands of the Province? Wouldn’t it have been interesting if the School Board had a memorandum of agreement to use common space such as an auditorium or a swimming pool? Hey, imagine if the Municipality had brokered MOU’s with Colleges or Universities to co-exist and offer classes on site? Nope…. The Municipality was not a part of the public school boards proposal.

3. The Catholic Board has applied to build two schools (an elementary and a secondary) on land beside the new Twin Pad Arena/ Library. They have entered into a partnership of some kind with the town. The Town of Wasaga Beach through Mayor Smith have thanked the developer that will be selling the land for this to the Catholic School Board for an unknown amount. The Town is contributing land use for necessary parking. In the drawings, the two schools are side by side, they are combining the student population and calling it a “Hub”. Now, apparently (according to CAO McNeil), they will possibly separate into two schools eventually, but the Town loves to call things “Hubs” as they think it will get us some funding to support hubs. The Town apparently has an agreement to use a room inside one of the buildings on the second floor as a Theatre (Cultural Centre) and except for the sound system, there will be no cost. Now this “plan” certainly meets the “speedy” criteria Smith speaks about in her editorial. But Nobody (including the Public Board, the Town or the Developer to our public knowledge) knew anything about this plan prior to Smith getting back into office. It sure meets Mayor Smiths goal to build a hub, and Editorialist Smiths hopes that a Board will work “with” Council.

So…. Why write all of this?I feel that it is important for everyone to know that the BEST way to serve our children is to show them the importance of doing things right. We need to lead by example. Do NOT let them read the article written by Smith unless you are ready to deal with the bullying nature of her comments.

Where does insulting any of the important players in this process do anyone good?

Our children would do well to learn a little about diplomacy instead of how to be a bully in a local newsletter.

So, final review;

School 1, The Public Elementary School being built: This Project despite moving forward has Beach Booster criticizing its Board members. It is being built just right. (Maybe a little slower than hoped- but just right.)

School 2, The Public High School proposed and funding applied for: This project has had no support from BB and its Board members insulted by them. All we can do at this point is hope AND reach out to those approving the final two steps. Approval of funding and Green light to spend. This will be a full service school with a WIDE variety of classes available.

School 3, The Municipal “Hub” proposed by the Catholic School Board and funding applied for: This project has had all kinds of support from Beach Booster and Mayor Smith. Well, I hope these schools also get approval if the Catholic Board actually needs them. HOWEVER, NOT at the cost of the public school board school not getting funding. With the Town now apparently a partner, we should expect and deserve full disclosure as to cost estimates and agreements in place. With this proposal, we have given up parking space at our Twin Pad Arena/Library that I thought it was built with maximum parking capacity. Despite touting this as a Municipal project, the Town recently did a presentation saying it would be built with zero cost.

What can you do?

Write to our Mayor and ask his opinion on the BB allowing such bashing of our School Board? The Town spends plenty of advertising in this publication and should not allow such attacks. Ask the Mayor for more details about this “hub” and what it will cost us. Ask why the two buildings are not being built as one if hubs are truly better?

Write a letter to the Minister of Education and to our MPP. Ask them to ensure that school boards in Ontario get adequate funding to build and operate what is required by our children. Your letter should acknowledge that there are some 50 boards seeking funding for about 220 of these important projects but that our concern as such a fast growing community is our children.

Providing education should not be a pick and choose option for bean counters. Find a way to fund all necessary projects. Spend our tax money wisely. Our children are our future!