News Release
May 20, 2008

At its regularly scheduled Board meeting of May 20, 2008, the Durham District School Board approved the establishment of a Pupil Accommodation Review and the establishment of an Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) for the Central Whitby Area.

Leading the ARC will be a yet to be determined committee of community stakeholders including parents, school staff, and a representative from both local business and the Town of Whitby. In total, the ARC could include up to thirty-four members. The ARC will develop options to improve education opportunities for the students in Central Whitby as well as consider the business case, developed by the Board, as a starting point for the review process.

In total, six schools are being considered in the Central Whitby review process. Three of the schools, in need of significant repair, have been identified as potential closure/consolidation candidates including; Florence M. Heard Public School, Leslie McFarlane Public School, and Palmerston Avenue Public School. Three additional schools, Captain Michael VandenBos Public School, Jack Miner Public School, and Pringle Creek Public School, are included for consideration as enrolment and program moves and are not under consideration for closure.

The mandate of the Accommodation Review Committee is to review school accommodations and to establish an integrated accommodation solution for Central Whitby. The ARC is scheduled to present its findings and a report to the Director of Education in March 2009.

Durham District School Board Chair, Marilyn Crawford said, "The Accommodation Review Committee's mandate is to lead the review process, to gather community input and to explore the questions and options at hand for providing facilities and programs to students in Central Whitby. On behalf of the Board I would like to share our advanced thanks to the Accommodation Review Committee members for volunteering to be part of this important initiative."

Over the next twelve months, eighteen ARC and public meetings will be held. The first public meeting will take place on September 30, 2008. For a complete listing of meeting dates and times, please visit the Board's Website at www.durham.edu.on.ca and click on the School Accommodation/ARC button for reports, schedules, frequently asked questions and more. The site will be updated with all information used throughout the ARC process.

The Durham District School Board is responsible for public education in the rural settings of Uxbridge, Brock and Scugog Townships and the urban settings of Ajax, Whitby, Pickering and Oshawa. The Board employs more than 7,000 teaching and educational services staff. With 132 elementary and secondary schools and learning centres, the Board accommodates more than 70,000 regular day students and thousands more who take advantage of a wide variety of continuing education and adult credit courses. More information about the DDSB can be found on the Board's Website at www.durham.edu.on.ca.

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