After years of the Ottawa Carleton School board neglecting and muzzling on-going issues at Munster Public School, parents finally had enough of their concerns not being heard and issues not being resolved, that they pulled their children from the school. Now after a drastic decline in school population, and a community that wants answers and a solution, the board wants to close the community school and bus the children 40+ minutes to neighbouring near capacity schools.
A once thriving community school, in a small town of Munster, took a drastic blow to its population last school year, yet the school board declined to investigate as to why. Evidence would have shown the board that their neglect to deal with issues lead to a decline in numbers. Parents pulled their children, not just from the school, from the Ottawa Carleton school board entirely! In fact, out of just one classroom alone, nine kids were pulled out by their parents and sent to other schools, and of the nine, six of them opted to change boards and joined the Catholic school board.
Parents are thankful the staffing issues have been resolved and see the positive change it has made within the school. As the reputation of Munster school rebuilds itself, the community wants to grow Munster Elementary School’s numbers and proposed to the Board the addition of EFI to the school, due it’s growing need within our city’s schools. Currently south of Stittsville, there is no school within the Ottawa Carleton School Board that offers EFI and children are being bussed into the city, making them spend 80-120 minutes per day on a bus. If the Board’s role is to “provide equitable access to programs for all students”, then implementing the EFI program at Munster Elementary School is the way to go.
On Tuesday, January 20th, 2015, at 7pm the community will be meeting with the Board and it’s Trustees to plead their case and show that the “evidence” they have for closing the school is not accurate and remind them of their role they played in Munster School’s current situation.
As Trustee Lynn Scott stated, “putting students first means choosing what’s right, instead of what’s popular.” When it comes to the closure of a great facility with an over sized gym and massive yard space, uprooting children out of their own community and putting them on a bus for an hour and a half to go to school, I just hope the other Trustees believe in the same thing.
Do what is right for the kids. That’s what this is, and has always been about.
Laura Rupert
Munster