Gravenhurst Council Must Pay Attention To School Danger

THE BUDGET GRAVENHURST SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON - OR YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT SNOOZING AND LOSING-

HIGH SCHOOL NUMBERS - COUNCIL NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE

I'M REALLY NOT VERY POLITICAL, OTHER THAN I FIND MYSELF, AT MOST STATIONS THROUGH LIFE, DISLIKING WHAT WE HAVE AS GOVERNANCE. MOST OF THE TIME YOU JUST COMPLAIN TO THE WALL, AND MUMBLE TO ONESELF ABOUT THE INJUSTICES OF BUDGETS LIKE THIS LATEST ONE, AND WELL, PAY WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE PAID…..AND MOISTEN THE OLD CRYING TOWEL WITH YOUR TEARS. THIS LATEST PROVINCIAL BUDGET HAS A LITTLE BIT MORE TO IT, THAN FOLKS IN GRAVENHURST MAY INITIALLY BE AWARE OF…..AND WHILE IT WILL CERTAINLY SEEM LIKE I'M HARPING, OR FLOGGING THE PROVERBIAL DEAD HORSE, THE ISSUE I'VE BEEN WARNING MY TOWN ABOUT, GOT A HUGE HAIRY BOOST IN THE LATEST GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT.

THERE IS A PROVISION BY THE PROVINCE, TO WORK AT BOARD OF EDUCATION EFFICIENCIES, SUCH AS INCREASING BOARD SIZES THROUGH AMALGAMATIONS……BEEN THERE, DONE THAT……AND CLOSE SCHOOLS THAT ARE OPERATING UNDER-CAPACITY. AMONGST OTHER THINGS, GRAVENHURST IS GOING TO SEE SOME POTENTIAL CHANGES WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. NOW IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE A LIBERAL OUT THERE, I'M SORRY TO OFFEND YOU…..AND WHILE I DO AGREE WITH THE RAGING NECESSITY TO DEAL WITH OUR PROVINCIAL DEFICIT, WHEN IT COMES TO THE POTENTIAL WE COULD LOSE OUR HIGH SCHOOL, OR SOME PUBLIC SCHOOLS, WE HAVE TO THINK OF OTHER THINGS THAN PLEASANTRIES TO WISH THE GOVERNING LIBERAL PARTY….AND BY ALL MEANS, BRING ON AN ELECTION. FRANKLY, THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE BEST WAY TO GET THIS ISSUE OUT IN THE OPEN, SO LOCAL COUNCILLORS CAN SEE FOR THEMSELVES THAT THIS CLOSURE POTENTIAL IS A BIGGER DEAL THAN THEY HAVE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT…..IF IN FACT THEY HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT IT FOR FIVE MINUTES THIS YEAR.

THE QUESTION IS, WHAT IS THE CAPACITY OF THE SCHOOL, AND ARE WE CLOSE? IF WE HAVE BEEN UNDER-ENROLLED, INCLUDING THIS PRESENT TERM, THE BOARD, WITH THIS NEW BUDGET, HAS THE AUTHORITY OF THE PROVINCE, TO CLOSE IT UP TO SAVE COSTS. IF IT WAS JUST THE BOARD, ON ITS OWN, THERE WOULD BE A LOT MORE INVOLVED, THAN THIS NEW PROJECT TO SAVE US FROM BANKRUPTCY AS A PROVINCE. THIS IS SCAREY STUFF FOR THIS TOWN. SO AS FAR AS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOES, LOSING THE SCHOOL IS A DEATH KNELL OF THE OLD TOWN, THE WAY WE HAVE KNOWN IT. SO IT REALLY IS A CASE NOW, THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO STUDY WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A LIBERAL, AND AGAIN, I'M NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY PARTY……BUT THIS IS AN ACT OF SO-CALLED RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT, THAT COULD, BY DECREE, CHANGE OUR HISTORY WITH THAT LITTLE PROVISION ATTACHED TO THE BUDGET. STRIKES? YUP! IT'S GOING TO BE A DANDY SPRING AND SUMMER.

AWARENESS AND PREPARATION TIME IS CUT IN HALF. SO GRAVENHURST COUNCIL WOULD BE WELL ADVISED TO COMMENCE THAT ACTION COMMITTEE I WAS WRITING ABOUT PREVIOUSLY, BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE SURE JUST HOW CLOSE THIS COULD BE ON A STUDENT COUNT IF IT WAS DONE TOMORROW MORNING. OF ALL THE OLD SAYINGS, I WISH IT WAS THE CASE, THAT I "WAS BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE." I DON'T WANT TO BE RIGHT ABOUT THIS, BUT YOU KNOW, WITH ALL THE STUFF THAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN OUR TOWN, OF AN ADVERSE NATURE, LOSING THE SCHOOL WOULD BE TRAGIC. WHILE MANY CITIZENS SIT ON THE FENCE ON ISSUES LIKE THIS, NOW IS THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE FOLKS AT QUEEN'S PARK HAVE IN MIND…….AS JUST-DESERT FOR US……A CONSERVATIVE RIDING THAT THEY WON'T WIN ANY TIME SOON.

THERE IS ALL KINDS OF RHETORIC A WRITER OF MY VINTAGE CAN COME UP WITH, TO ARTICULATE THAT THE SKY MAY BE FALLING, AND CONVINCE FOLKS TO HIDE UNDER THEIR BEDS TO AVOID GETTING HIT BY SOME. FROM MY YEARS AS AN EDITOR WITH THE MUSKOKA PRESS, THIS IS WORRISOME, BECAUSE NO FOOLING, I DON'T NEED ANY RHETORIC TO COME UP WITH SOME REAL SOLID FEAR MONGERING. THE PREMIER OF THIS PROVINCE DOESN'T LIVE IN GRAVENHURST, AND IF THERE'S ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL, SO! AS THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH EFFORT SPENT TRYING TO REVITALIZE THE MAIN STREET, AND REINFORCE THE IDEA THAT GRAVENHURST WANTS YOUR BUSINESS, EVEN THE POTENTIAL OF LOSING THE SCHOOL TO LOW ENROLLMENT…..THREE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, IS A DOWNER TO FOLKS AND BUSINESSES WISHING TO RE-LOCATE HERE. NOW BUMP UP THAT TIME-FRAME, AND IT SHOULD BE A STAGGERING REALITY CHECK TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T THINK IT WAS EVEN REMOTELY POSSIBLE. THE PROVINCE HAS JUST SAID, THAT THEY WILL ASSIST CLOSING THOSE SCHOOLS THAT ARE UNDER-UTILIZED. NOT IN THREE YEARS. SOON. SO WHAT IS OUR DANGER ZONE? ARE WE IN IT NOW AS FAR AS ENROLLMENT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU REMOVE THE VICTORY LAP YEAR, WHICH DOES BULK UP THE NUMBERS? COUNCIL NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT. THEY NEED TO KNOW WHAT THOSE NUMBERS SAY……AND THEY SHOULD BE DEMANDING THE TRILLIUM LAKELANDS BOARD OF EDUCATION PROVIDE THOSE STATS, PRONTO.

I HOPE WE ARE SAFE. I'D LIKE TO END THIS BLOG BY SUGGESTING….."AH, WE'LL PROBABLY BE OKAY." AS AN OLD NEWS HOUND, WHO HAS WATCHED MANY BUDGETS COME DOWN, WHILE I WAS EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE, AND FRANK MILLER WAS THE TREASURER OF ONTARIO…….I CAN TELL YOU, THIS IS A BAD NEWS BUDGET THAT COULD SERIOUSLY HURT OUR WHOLE COMMUNITY……AND AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED…..THE LEADERSHIP IN TORONTO, CALLING THE SHOTS FOR US…….WELL, WE HAVE A CHANCE TO LET THEM KNOW WHAT WE WON'T TOLERATE. I KEEP CHEWING ON THIS AIR AMBULANCE DEBACLE I'VE BEEN READING ABOUT ALMOST DAILY…….AND THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INVESTED UNWISELY……AND IT'S LIKE THAT PETER FINCH MOMENT, WHEN HE SCREAMS OUT THE WINDOW….."I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANY MORE!"

AN ELECTION. I'M BETTING ON IT. I'M PRAYING FOR IT. AND I'M NOT PARTICULARLY RELIGIOUS EITHER!