Alexander Henry report passed to school board trustees

Alexander Henry High School will soon be at the fate of the Algoma District School Board trustees.

The trustees received the final report from the Accommodation Review Committee on Tuesday night at a special meeting.

The report recommends that the school be closed and its 175 students be accommodated by other secondary schools in the city.

One idea that has been presented includes moving the students and the programs run at Alexander Henry to a single school that can accommodate the group.

The process has now moved along to the point where Director of Education Mario Turco will now prepare an administrative recommendations report which will be presented to the trustees sometime between the December 6 regular board meeting and the December 20 board meeting.

The report can be brought forward to the trustees no later than the December 20 meeting, after which the trustees will have 60 days to clarify any of the information in the report before a final vote is held on whether to accept the recommendation.

The school has witnessed a steady decline in enrolment in recent years.

Enrolment at the Northern Aveenue school was 219 during the 2006-07 school year and has dropped to the current 175, with another decline expected should the school remain open come September 2012.

Tuesday night’s meeting also gave the board an opportunity to honour former trustee, Bill Hall, who served on the board for 18 years.

Hall received the Bernadine Yackman Memorial Award for dedication, commitment and an outstanding contribution to education in Ontario by an active or retired trustee.

Bill began serving on the board in 1988 while it was known as the Sault Ste. Marie board and continued his service until 2006.

During that time he served on numerous committees and was chair of the Budget and Salary Negotiation Committees for a period.

Hall served as vice-chair of the board from 1995 to 1996 and was chair of the board in 1997.