News Flash!

We are one step closer to having a high school to serve our children’s needs!!!!!

The attached screenshot is from a media release shared by the SCDSB on Thursday!

On Thursday, I started getting some great news sent to me from a wide variety of sources. Wasaga Beach has been waiting patiently for a High School that will serve the youth of our community for many years now.

On Thursday, we found out that we are one step closer! The Simcoe County District School Board announced approval to proceed with the purchase of the property slated for the Wasaga Beach Secondary School in the Sunnidale Trails Subdivision.

Earlier this year, School Board Trustee Foley shared details of the school proposed for the site.

Hit the link to his page to Trustee Foleys post. The details are exciting:

1145 High School Students was the projected capacity. Wow… full STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programming and any student who wishes to attend high school right here at home will be accommodated.

Congratulations to Trustee Foley and the entire Board at the SCDSB. It has taken years of careful planning to get us to this point.

Next step is to get The Hon Minister Lecce to approve Capital Funding for this much needed high school!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gHpxkgejZ7Xy7TtB/?mibextid=WC7FNe

But… I have to add a question to the end of this post. Why has the Town of Wasaga Beach NOT jumped all over this and shared the great news with residents. I suspect it is due to their continued bias displayed in supporting a smaller high school build beside the TPAL (a K-12 combined school).

From the beginning , when these two proposals were submitted, this political bias was glaringly evident.

The Town partnered with the separate school board and prepared public presentations touting a partnership with them. Thousands of taxpayer dollars were used to push for the Towns preferred project. The SCDSB simply got a letter of support two weeks AFTER the proposals were submitted.

The Town prepared an entire entourage to attend the ROMA conference and provide a delegation to Minister Lecce in support of the separate school boards proposal. The SCDSB was left out in the cold. Ask yourself… why?

Which was a better proposal? A blended K-12 school that would have limited high school programming for the 500 students, or a full 9-12 high school with full STEM programming. (I admit there is a demonstrated need for the elementary aspect of their proposal.)

Finally, I have recently asked the CAO about who attended the $1000 per person fund-raiser hosted by Minister Lecce. Many people are aware of their attendance at this fundraiser. I also asked what was discussed as I had heard that no member from the SCDSB or the developers that were providing land for that project had been invited to be part of this event. Still today… no answer to my questions. Why?

The Town of Wasaga Beach accuses me of spreading misinformation, but I have asked the questions. If they choose the “no comment” approach, I guess we will have to guess.

Based on other announcements this week, I suspect Minister Lecce will be making an announcement one day this coming week.

I suspect the Town may know what the announcement will be. My guess is that the incredible news about the land purchase approval for the SCDSB might have been thought to overshadow whatever Minister Lecce announces. Perhaps THAT is why the Town hasn’t celebrate this INCREDIBLE announcement.

I did notice a week ago, they were re-posting a letter they sent to Minister Lecce thanking him for meeting with them. Lots of yellow highlighting was evident.

Hmmmm.

The parade of school build announcements has started. School builds around Ontario are being announced now. What will the students of Wasaga Beach get?

Will we get both schools?

Will we get a full service High School that serves all high school students, built with careful planning and statistics that make sense?

Will we get a K-12 school that only serves 500 high school students, was poorly planned but politically driven?

Will we get neither? This choice is not likely.

So, stay tuned this week. Follow Minister Lecce’s Facebook page to see all of the various builds announced. Cross your fingers that the SCDSB gets the approval it needs and if they do, that the separate school board gets theirs as well. After all, they demonstrate the need for an elementary school even if they don’t have the numbers for a Secondary School.

But for today… celebrate that regardless of what is announced this week, we are one step closer to a full STEM programming High School for the students of Wasaga Beach…. All of them!