Raise the Hammer

the HWDSB will do whatever they can to justify the need for new buildings with massive parking lots.

Hello! I was once a student at Sir John A. MacDonald High School, I can't believe that they are again trying to close the School! I did go to a meeting in late 1988 to sign a book to keep the School open and as a Separate School instead it being changed to Catholic High School! The City should just leave the School alone, It's in a prime Location and has the right Teachers for the Students in today's work-force. DON'T DO IT ~ LEAVE IT ALONE AND KEEP IT OPEN....!!!

The Province will not fund the up keep of schools, but will fund new schools.

Don't forget, enrolment at sir john a is stable, and has increased since 2009.

Westdale is already full and set to add horrible portables to accommodate the kids from Sir John A heading out there.

There has never been a business, planning or enrolment case to close Sir John A. Like most of what the school board does, it's to support their mega parking lots on the outskirts of the city.

the schools slated for closure sit on valuable land that the board can sell off and then purchase back at a higher price with help from the province.

Was not sure where you were going with that comment but bravo.

It's never been entirely clear why they need to close Sir John A. Other than the vagaries of a provincial funding regime that favors building new schools over renovating and maintaining old schools, that is.

Perhaps downtown intensification/redevelopment is still a big if, but the city is planning for several thousand new residential units in the West Harbour area, which is in the catchment. There is additional development and reinvestment in old houses happening across the core area.

Will none of this involve an increase in families with school-age children?

Mayor Bratina wanted to bulldoze Sir John A and use it to build a new stadium.

I'm starting to get suspicious that somebody behind the scenes has plans for the area and some important ears.

Is it too late to reverse the closures? Can it be reopened by the new trustees?

Please note the bizzare school boundary map for Sir John A.

In particular, see how Durand (where my family lives) is excluded, even although we are RIGHT NEXT TO THE SCHOOL. Instead, students who live here are supposed to travel all the way to Westdale. Insane.

The only logic seems to be 19th century class-based. Can't have us Duranders rubbing elbows with the downtown riff-raff.

To understand the catchment area you need to look at the history.

The school was a foundry owned by Archie McCoy. (Who knows what evil chemicals lay underneath?)

At the time the school was planned, York was basically an alleyway surrounded by derelict buildings and squatters. The place was a cesspool.

As part of the overall remediation of the area, expropriations occurred which were quite contentious. (This eventually caused the formation of what is now the Dundurn Community Legal Clinic and a legal aid funded law source for the poor.)

Some years before Central High School which had been the sister school to Westdale burned down. Because of the population at the time, it was decided that building Scott Park and Sir John A made sense. (During this same era the Catholic Board had the same population issues and built Bishop Ryan, St. Mary's and Thomas More.)

Without getting into all the planning stuff like Jackson Square and the over-all remediation of the area, Sir John A had to draw from the Central population and the Westdale population to make sense. Needless to say, emotions ran high particularly for those people who lived in or moved into the area hoping to send their kids to Westdale. During this same period, a lot of the apartment buildings went up just south of Main.

After lots of gnashing of teeth, the boundary as it exists was created. I suspect that the hope was that the north end and Sir John A catchment area would continue to flourish. That did not happen as it has remained somewhat stagnant while the areas west of Dundurn grew.

This explains why Central Elementary went to Westdale in spite of the geography. There was no conspiracy. Parents who sent their kids to Central expecting them to go to Westdale passionately convinced the Board of their argument. Central had always been a Westdale feeder and there was a lot of tradition in what is now called the Durand neighbourhood, particularly as the board was competing with Hillfield for example for students.

Westdale is an awesome school. It is a multi-generational school. People whose parents (and now grandparents) went there felt that by living in its original catchment, they should be entitled to go there. In fact the people North of Main were not all that excited about losing their right to go to Westdale. But something had to be done.

Maybe it would have been better to rebuild Central High, but that is where the Claremont went in. In short there was a lot of balancing going on.

A lot of people fought against buying out Archie McCoy at a premium. But the city wanted heavy industry moved out of the downtown. If the foundry was still there, who knows what the area would look like. So compromises were made.

If you put yourself in the minds of people who made the decisions back then, I am not sure you would have made different decision on the catchment lines.
Now there is a great building there. The question is how do we maximize it’s use. If it is not a good place for a high school, maybe it would be a good place for a college, or college/community/arts centre, or – who knows ….


Some years before Central High School which had been the sister school to Westdale burned down. Because of the population at the time, it was decided that building Scott Park and Sir John A made sense. (during this same era the Catholic Board had the same population issues and built Bishop Ryan, St. Mary's and eventually Thomas More.)

Without getting into all the planning stuff like Jackson square and the over-all remediation of the area, Sir John A had to draw from the Central population and the Westdale Population. Needless to say, emotions ran high particularly for those people who lived or moved into the area hoping to send their kids to Westdale. During this same period, a lot of the apartment buildings went up just south of Main.

After lots of gnashing of teeth, the boundry as it exists was created. I suspect that the hope was that the north end and Sir John A catchment area would conintue to flourish. That did not happen as it has remained somewhat stagnant while the areas west of Dundurn grew.

This explains why Cnetral Elemntary went to WEstdale in spite of the geography. There was no consipiracy. Parent who sent their kidsto Central expecting them to go to Wesdale passionately ocnvinced the Board of their argument. Centra had always been a Westdale Feeder and there was a lot of tradition in the Druand neighbourhood particularly as the board was competing with Hillfield for example for students.

WEstdale is an awsome school. It is a multi generational school. People whose parents (and now grandparents) went there felt that by living in its original catchmnent, they cshoudl be entitled to go there. In fact the poeple North of Main were not all that excited about losing their right ot go to WEstdale. But something had ot be done.

Maybe it would havebeen better ot rebuild Central High, but that is where the Claremont went in. In short there was a lot of blanceing going on.

A lot of peple fought agianst buying out ARchie McCoy at a premium. But the city wanted heavy idustry moved out of the downtown. If the foundry was still there, who kows what the area would look like. So comporomises were made.

If you put yourself in the inds of people who made the decisoins abck then, I am not sure you would havemade different decision on the catchment lines.

Upon sober second thought... It gets worse. As we see from the Sir John A. School Cluster Map, (scroll down to second map at link) our brilliant School Board also directs students graduating from Central Elementary School to attend Westdale, not Sir John A.

This in spite of the fact that Central Elementary is a mere 850 metres from Sir John A.

As the link shows, the Google Maps route takes 4 minutes on a bicycle.

Say... I've got an idea for relieving the congestion at Westdale. Perhaps we don't need crappy portables at Westdale after all.

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2014-12-02 23:08:07

this was pointed out and suggested over and over during the boards closure-fest. To no avail.

And despite some of the classist comments from Westdale parents, someone should remind them that their precious kids will be hanging with 'downtown riffraff' anyways when they come to Westdale.

Makes no sense all around.

Also, looking at those maps, wouldn't it make sense to at least adjust the catchment area to head south on Queen all the way to the base of the escarpment??

Comment edited by jason on 2014-12-02 23:19:06

Makes sense to me!

Westdale overcrowded...of course! They have all the sought after programs in ...French immersion, I.B. Program, music program...why not spread it out...like the Catholic board does....and from almost anywhere in the city..SJAM is one bus trip...

bingo. The Cathaolic board did this years ago with Cathedral and as a result, east Mtn and Stoney Creek friends bused down to cathedral for school to take advantage of the programs. And shocking, they turned out a-ok mingling with inner city peeps.

iirc, they're already doing that. Westdale is losing its strings program, I think. Honestly, if SJAM needs more enrollment, they should be moving the bulk of the special programs there, since it's 1 bus from everywhere in the city.

Simply ridiculous, yet the people have no power in these decisions. Why is that, is the question that should be asked. The concept of building neighbourhood assemblies, seems like a good idea. I feel that at least thru this type of democratic process, that those who are divided by class distinctions could find one or two common things to fight for.

As with the Housing Monster series that has been up for discussion, a greater undersanding of the system, gives people something of common ground to latch onto and fight for.

At the time the decision was made by the North ARC (Accommodation and Review Committee), all the Board staff could see were casino dollar signs emanating from the property. To use PJ Mercanti's words, it was to be the "bee's knees" of a windfall.

No reason to pour money into older schools or waste money on building new ones (that we all know will be built of poor quality materials and won't last). SJAM was state of the art when it opened in 1970. If a school built then only has lifespan of 45 years, how quickly will Hamilton taxpayers have to repair & replace this so-called super-school?

SJAM was state of the art when it opened in 1970.

Lets be real here though --- its not like the school is some jewel of architectural quality. It's enough to say that the school makes a lot more sense open than closed. It still looks like a brutalist prison.

In the early spring of 2013 I spoke with a number of parents whose children would be impacted by the closure of SJAM. They (and I) were ready to campaign to keep the school open. But every person I spoke with for advice told me not to waste my time - there was no way the board would change their mind. SJAM is full of asbestos, which would be prohibitively costly to remove; keeping SJAM open would jeopardize the building of a new school on the Scott Park site.

So what now? Thanks for the article, but there's no point in continuing to discuss this without an action plan. Give me a solid plan that has enough merit to stand a chance of convincing the school board and I'll be out there campaigning with you!

Read the emails in the article if you want an answer as to why this school closure was rushed through.

http://jellyandgunner.ca/casino-proponen...

http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/pfe-new...

changes coming to the school closing process. The MoE is hoping to make the process faster with less consultation. You can provide feedback to the Ministry, contact Grant Osborn: Grant.Osborn@ontario.ca; Mathew Thomas: Mathew.P.Thomas@ontario.ca, or Cindy Ryder-Davis: Cindy.Ryder-Davis@ontario.ca

In 2011, the HWDSB formed the North Secondary Accommodation Review Committee. It comprised of teachers, community members, parents, and other community stakeholders in Hamilton. The mandate given to the ARC members was to make recommendations to the board/MoE about the future of the North Hamilton Public high schools. SJAM fell into that category. I was able to find an interesting piece of information about utilization rates (current and projected), cost of operating each school, and a variety of other statistics for each Hamilton North high school (please see link below).

http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/secondaryarc/file...

I encourage everyone to review these data.

The recommendations of the North ARC can be found here:

http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/secondaryarc/files/2012/01/NorthARC_Presentation_CotW_Feb13_2012.pdf and http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/secondaryarc/file...

Happy reading.