'My daughter came home crying:' School board administrators take flak from upset Parkland Public School parents

Algoma District School Board senior administrators told a group of upset Parkland Public School students and parents, gathered at a meeting at the school Monday evening, they would consider feedback regarding the board’s short-notice decision to close down Grade 7 and 8 classes at the school and transfer students to either Pinewood or White Pines.

“We have heard (tonight) the parents would have liked more time to explore the options…so we’re going to go back and have a look at the numbers,” said Lucia Reece, ADSB director of education, speaking to SooToday after Monday’s meeting.

“My daughter came home crying Friday,” said parent Andy Duplassie.

“You guys want them to feel comfortable and in place, and yet you want to uproot them and put them in two different schools where they don’t want to go,” Duplassie told Reece and Brent Vallee, ADSB superintendent, at Monday’s meeting.  

“I don’t think this is in the best interest of those students right now. Sometimes I think we get so caught up in numbers we fail to notice basic human decency,” said concerned citizen Tony Boniferro.

“Why can’t we do this next year?” asked parent Anne Wismer.

Reece replied the board doesn’t believe that’s the best option for Parkland’s Grades 7 and 8 students, stating more programming options are available to them at either Pinewood or White Pines.

Peter Petainen, another concerned parent, said the board’s move flies in the face of the ADSB’s own mission statement, to build “caring citizens.”

“Letting them know 3 o’clock Friday…there is no opportunity for either them or us to come to an educated, logical decision on what is best for our children, and then you’re taking that tomorrow to the board for their approval?”

“I’m really struggling with the communication on this,” Petainen told administrators.   

Students were told in class Friday, Sept. 15, and their parents notified by phone, the ADSB expected the children to be registered at either Pinewood Public School or in the Grade 7 to 12 program at White Pines by Tuesday and expected to start classes at either one of those schools Wednesday.

A total of 17 Parkland students (eight in Grade 8, nine in Grade 7) would be affected by the sudden move, board officials said Monday.

“As a parent, my ultimate concern is the method in which it was communicated to us,” Petainen told SooToday.

“I have no issue with the school board deciding what is best for the students. What I have a serious concern about is the method and the means in which it was communicated to us. They gave us an option on Friday at 3 o’clock, our children had to move and pick one of two locations by Wednesday without clearly articulating what the options were at both locations, and we had to have the selection in by today.”

“It was poorly communicated and poorly handled in talking with the parents.”

“I was unhappy, and disappointed with the school board,” said Petainen, who has a son and daughter at Parkland.

“I think I can speak for the whole class by saying we felt devastated, crushed, disappointed and sad,” said Petainen’s daughter Ariana.

All parents felt they should have been informed of the situation by June 2017 at the latest.

“We have not made a decision,” Petainen said.

"Would I prefer them to finish up the year here? Absolutely.”

The public is allowed to attend Tuesday’s ADSB meeting, beginning at 7 p.m. at the board’s office, located at 644 Albert Street East.

Board officials said they projected 33 students for Parkland’s Grades 7 and 8 program in April, that number decreasing to 25 by the end of the 2016-2017 school year in June.

Vallee told parents the board expected to carry on with Grade 7 and 8 classes at Parkland with 25 students, but the number had dwindled to 17 by the start of classes earlier this month.   

“We’re going back to the team (ADSB senior administration and trustees at Tuesday’s regular monthly board meeting) and we’ll decide whether it’s going forward,” Reece said.

Reece would not make a firm commitment as to whether the board would allow more time, perhaps another school year, for parents to decide where to send their children to school, something which parents urged officials to do.  

“We’re going to go back and bring all of this feedback from tonight to our senior admin team and discuss where we’re at before we bring our recommendation to the trustees tomorrow night. We came to have some feedback and help inform our decision and we certainly got that tonight,” Reece told us after Monday’s meeting.

A letter written by Brent Vallee, ADSB superintendent, delivered to parents Friday, stated the sudden decision was based on a review of enrolment numbers, and the move was being made based on the Board’s ability to do so based on legislation.

Attached to the letter was a form asking parents to decide whether to send their children to Pinewood or White Pines, to be submitted to the board by Tuesday, in order for transportation of students to be arranged.

It is not yet known where Parkland’s Grade 7 and 8 teacher would be placed if the board’s plan goes through, Reece said.