From crying to dancing; students, parents relieved over school board’s Parkland decision

Sault parent Andy Duplassie said his daughter had been in tears after learning Friday the Algoma District School Board told  Parkland Public School Grade 7 and 8 students they were being relocated from their school and had two days to decide, with parental input, if they wanted to attend either Pinewood Public School or White Pines Collegiate’s Grade 7 to 12 school.

The decision to uproot approximately 17 Grade 7 and 8 Parkland students only a few days into the new school year was based on lower than projected enrolment, the board stated at the time.

After Tuesday’s regular ADSB board meeting, Duplassie said  “today I came home and found my daughter dancing, and excited she didn’t have to leave Parkland, so that was really great.”

“I was a little bit shocked it was resolved so quickly…we got what we wanted more or less, so it’s great, I loved it,” Duplassie told SooToday.

A parent/student input meeting was held at Parkland Monday by senior ADSB officials, and strong opposition voiced there led the board to announce Tuesday afternoon it had decided to put relocation of the students on hold, allowing them to finish off the current school year at Parkland, with a promise to consult with parents and students again in the spring of 2018.

Brent Vallee, ADSB superintendent, acknowledged parents and students were concerned about the timelines involved with the decision, requiring students to uproot from Parkland and make the transition to another school within a matter of days.

“There was a need for more information about the choices that were available, concerns about beginning this process when we’re already into the school year, that moving students at this stage of the year was upsetting to them,” Vallee said Tuesday.

“I’m happy I don’t have to leave my school. The rest of my class is happy too,” said Parkland Grade 8 student Ariana Petainen after Tuesday’s board meeting.

With such a sense of relief, Ariana can spend the rest of the current school year preparing for high school at White Pines in Sept. 2018.

Ariana said she is now looking forward to a proper Grade 8 graduation from Parkland, fundraising activities and a three-day class trip, in June, to Christian faith-based Camp Aush Bik Koong.

“I’m pleasantly surprised. I’m very appreciative they listened to the parents,” said Peter Petainen, Ariana’s father.

“Certainly we’re very thankful we’ll have an opportunity to learn about the other locations, especially with younger kids that are still coming up.”

“Overall my wife and I are very happy, especially in regard to the chair’s comments about how they’re going to communicate with parents going forward, I think parents in the future are going to benefit,” Petainen said.

“I’m happy they listened to us,” said parent Donna Kessler.

“We do value your voices…we look forward to continuing conversations in the spring,” said Lucia Reece, ADSB director of education, to a group of Parkland parents and students gathered at Tuesday’s board meeting. 

Jennifer Sarlo, ADSB chair, was also in attendance at Monday’s meeting at the school and stated she was confident a resolution would be reached after conferring with senior administration Tuesday morning.

“I feel strongly that…we learned we did some things we did not do well in this process and which we won’t repeat again. It’s great learning when you make mistakes, we acknowledge that, and we’re thankful for the parents giving us their feedback and thankful for our team for coming to this resolution,” Sarlo said.