Raise the Hammer

THe HWDSB is quite possibly the most damaging entity in the entire city at the moment.

Stop the madness

took at lot to dethrone the tie cats

Sad but true!

Nicely said Ryan. Where is our leadership? All levels of government need to take a caring and closer look at this decision.

Council doesn't have control here, and they've made their opinion clear that they strongly disapprove of these closures and do not want to work with the HWDSB on joint projects.

The Fed gives the Province the reins here.

Give your provincial government Hell, your MPs. All our MPs and candidates have been pathetically silent throughout this debacle. Hamilton's MPs include a Liberal cabinet minister and the head of the ONDP. These people have clout. McMeekin and Horwath have said nothing about the school closures, which says all too much, and I don't think we can expect anything better from the PCs.

Comment edited by Pxtl on 2014-01-22 11:49:56

Who get's the parking revenue on game day?

I think thats what this is about .

Which is pathetic. 165 (number of spots) *40 (high end parking short walk tailgating fee) =6600 per game works out to about 100 000 a year.

And I wouldn't expect that revenue to last much longer than 10 years. After this mess, I expect Bob Young to dump or close the ti-cats the moment the New Stadium Smell fades and revenues go back to the status quo.

I know people are upset about the Ticats, but I think the odds of Young closing the Ticats are pretty much non-existent. He's not in it for the money and besides, with the S&P's performance the last few years, I'm sure the gains on his stock portfolio dwarfs his Ticat losses.

Wait till you see the view from the pressbox and large west grandstand. Trust me, the smell ain't ever gonna fade.

Sad to see other cities making huge strides in their urban rebirths, with their school boards, sports teams and higher institutions leading the charge and recognizing their massive role in revitalization. Here, we have two big institutions doing the complete opposite. Harming these neighbourhoods in a drastic way. The sad part is, we all knew this is what the 'Pan Am precinct' would end up looking like. It's Code Red. They can get away with slathering it in asphalt.
Imagine the city-building that could be going on right now if the stadium was rising overlooking our beautiful harbour. If the IW neighbourhood was seeing a new urban, mixed-use neighbourhood with grocery/retail amenities, park space and high quality housing being added into the heart of their neighbourhood. If the board took up the offer to locate their HQ at the Cannon Knitting Mills instead of wanting lunch-time access to Limeridge Mall on our dime. If any semblance of leadership could have been found over the past 4 years to further our now-defunct LRT project. the LRT route would have connected all of these pieces seamlessly.

Instead we get more of the same city-destroying that our institutions have been doing for years. And the worst part is, we're the ones paying for it all.

Great article. Two things:

1) should be noted the same thing is happening on the Mountain too. Mountain Secondary is closing, and it's the same as Parkview as it is devoted to kids with learning disabilities.

2) in light of all this, I have to ask- why is Alex Johnstone getting a free pass in all of her regular tv appearances on political shows? Why isn't Di Ianni calling her out on The Opinionators?? I've never seen someone who is involved in such a critical issue never challenged on anything.

Alex Johnstone has made some very questionable statements about the notorious, unethical school closure process for Prince Philip in the West End. She refuses to accept responsibility, even when presented with evidence. How can Ancaster folk stomach such a poor leader? Who'll vote for such a person?

True, but Mountain School only admits MID students (students with intellectual impairments), so the vast majority of Parkview students would not be eligible to apply to Mountain for admission. You could not simply join the two schools together and have Parkview kids and Mountain kids in the same classes. You could, however, have a vocational school that offers programs to both students with MID and students with learning disabilities, but students would be in math and English classes with others of similar ability.

I think the amalgamation of Mountain and Parkview rather than pairing them with neighbouring schools would be a fantastic move and show real leadership to the city. Both schools offers services to students with learning disabilities in smaller class sizes; they use Jump Math and the Wilson Reading program, offer life skills programs and vocational programs that dovetail with Mohawk College's trades programs. Paul Beattie's pedagogical approach could be applied (whether or not he's principal) and special needs students of Greater Hamilton could rest assured that their specialized needs would be met.

^ This is crucial. Johnstone is playing a political game and I hope her time as trustee is close to over.

My daughter attends Parkview and is very upset that the school is closing. All of the students have needs that are not likely to be accommodated in larger high schools where resources will be stretched thin. The Board's perspective is myopic: it wants to shut schools to save money rather than repurpose existing facilities to create the walkable and liveable neighbourhoods that people desire. I would really like to see the Spectator do a Code Red type of piece on Parkview and Mountain to demonstrate to the community how important it is to have these types of high schools available to students who through no fault of their own are often ignored and excluded from mainstream educational programming. I urge you to write the Board, the Board Trustees, City Council and Hamilton area MPPs to let them know that closing schools is illogical.

Good comments but damaged is done by HWDSB on Oct.21,2013 by trustees vote on closure of lower city High Schools The challenge by taxpayers to trustees was at this time.read the report to trustees Board ITEM 3.1 standing committee meeting Oct.21 2013 on HWDSB web site by Senior Taxpayers Coalition.It tells the attitude of HWDSB Trustees toward students of the lower city.Voice your opinion to HWDSB, MPP"s MPs but horse is out of barn.

The challenge by taxpayers to trustees was at this time

Yeah, that's kinda what happened. Westdale was blanketed in "We Need 3" signs, run by some of the regulars on this site. The trustees didn't care.

There was a resent opinion piece printed in the Toronto Star related to this, and pointing out why it's done. While it was focused on a school closure in Kingston, it made mention of the same goings-on in both Hamilton and Peterborough. Basically, it's like this:

In 2003, the provincial government changed the rules. No longer would new-school construction be taken from the local school board budgets; rather, the funds would come directly from the provincial government. The end result? School boards made the (for them, financially prudent) decision to reduce funding on maintenance, resulting in deteriorating schools that would ultimately need replacing. Win-win for them--less funds siphoned off for maintenance, and free replacements!

Commentary here.

EDIT: On the plus side...it shows we're not alone in this. Which begs the question, if the same thing is going on across the province, why hasn't it been addressed? (also edited b/c this comment box still refuses to accept a single carriage return as a new paragraph)

Comment edited by jonathan on 2014-01-22 18:41:55

The whole board is corrupt. Vote out all incumbents in October.

I hope so. I'd like to get more info from those running. I wonder if Raise the Hammer could generate a question/response effort like they've done with municipal campaigns.

This whole series of decisions made by the HWDSB is really depressing...hopefully common sense will prevail.

For what it is worth, I just sent an email to my MPP asking that she and her colleagues in the Ontario NDP party vociferously oppose the planned school closures, and the provincial funding structure that contributes to the bizarre destruction of well-functioning, structurally sound neighbourhood schools in favour of unnecessary new mega-schools.

I am not in a neighbourhood that would be directly affected by these school closures. But I think the responsibility to stop these poorly-thought-out decisions is on all of us, for the benefit of the youth and neighbourhoods of our city.

If there was any doubt that the HWDSB trustees need to be cleaned out next election this is it. I wanted to see Scott Park demo'd and replaced with something, like a mid sized apartment with storefronts or some kind of community sports & rec centre. Instead my tax dollars are going to buy back a school that was already sold, so they can demo it for a parking lot? Even as a Ti-Cat fan this ticks me off.

The Board will tell you, as it did at recent Central Accommodation Review Committee meetings, that they did all they could to invite private investment of businesses and community groups into their schools, but to no avail. Don't worry: they've done their best.

I'll be visiting my Member of Provincial Parliament, Monique Taylor, about this. Officially, the Ontario Secondary School-Teachers' Federation's education platform includes the necessary addressing of the funding formula and that's been distributed to all our Members of Provincial Parliament in Hamilton, whatever political party.

This Monday, the 27th of January, 6 p.m. at City Hall in their Council Chambers: Board meeting. I believe we should, as work and family obligations permit, be there to be sure our voices are heard.

Due to inclement weather, the Board meeting noted in the above comment has been cancelled. Keep your eye on http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/board/meetings/ for the re-scheduled date or telephone (905) 527-5092.

Talk about time theft, as well. Put cameras in the board office and you'll hundreds of highly paid "educators" doing NOTHING all day, at the expense of students and and their schools. Yet, the sense of entitlement and self-rightheousness that oozes from board staff and trustees is sickening. These are the same clowns who stick with and defend discovery math, when the whole world knows it's an idiotic disaster. Without hyperbole, I have more respect for bikers and the mafia because they, at least, don't mess with kids. These creeps have no qualms about it.

Sorry to be downcast, but all of this concern at this point strikes me as far too little far too late. MPP's should have been contacted in 2009, not now. Movement towards the decisions made by Hamilton's Trustees has been clearly visible for years and, though there was some protest, nothing nearing the force required to take on the process and achieve success ever congealed. In Peterborough, an incredibly well organized group of parents, students, alumni and urban advocates fought against the closing of their downtown high school --- even gaining a visit by Rick Mercer to back the cause on RMR --- and lost. Here, the usual suspects said the usual things and the usual occurred.
What I think this really shows is the need to broaden bases and impart to folks the need to be aware of what is going on, and the potential implications, when something can be done. This horse has, sadly, left the barn.

Short of outright civil disobedience, the ARC process just formalizes the outcome sought by the provincial government ... they set the rules and determine the framework that leads to school closures. There is a saying that applies to delegated powers in our system of government: the engineer [i.e. board] drives the train, but the train goes where the tracks lead. The ARC process simply offers the board and provincial government a means to engage in consultation so they can claim to have done it ... most people don't see the total picture until the process is in its late stages and then they are told its too late. We need to be more disruptive of the process itself ... call it the farce that it is and force our provincial government and MPPs (or provincial candidates) to state where they stand firmly.

BTW: The barn really stinks and the horse isn't looking so healthy.

The North ARC Secondary Accommodation Review report noted "Throughout the entire ARC process, the one issue that resonated most with Committee members and the public was the safe environment and programming offered at Parkview Secondary School." The report recommended the preservation of the Parkview program and that the staff and students remain together. (page 21 - http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/secondaryarc/file... ) We need to understand clearly and specifically, what is going to happen in response to this recommendation.

Tim Simmons gets an 'F' for his time as the local School Board Trustee in Ward 3 and most recently former board chair. He's now running for Bernie Morelli's position as Ward 3 Councillor.

He should be flunked out!

I hadn't read that about tim running for ward 3 … As a ward 3 resident I going to do all I can to make sure he is unemployed in November.

Comment edited by rednic on 2014-01-24 11:08:09

. I'm with you there rednic!!! This CAN NOT happen.... we'll be doomed!