THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017
THE PICTON
Gazette
3
Volume 187, Week 17
Canada’s oldest non-daily newspaper
27
east wall forces Dukes assistant coach gets Royal work stoppage HIRED top job with Timmins Rock HALTED Unstable
Second ARC meeting illustrates dissatisfaction with board’s proposals for county facilities
Concerned citizens pick apart school consolidation plans JASON PARKS STAFF WRITER
HONOURED From left,Wellings community builder award winner Jean Algar, lifetime achievement award winner Don Roberts, exceptional youth award winner Esther Prinzen, and county caring award winner Lisa Zachariah were honoured during Wednesday’s awards lunch. (Chad Ibbotson/Gazette staff)
County’s leading volunteers recognized Esther Prinzen, Lisa Zachariah, Jean Algar, Don Roberts feted at second annual luncheon Wednesday ADAM BRAMBURGER STAFF WRITER
Esther Prinzen was named the first winner of the Wellings Exceptional Youth Award at yesterday's second annual Prince Edward County Volunteer Recognition Awards luncheon. Prinzen was feted alongside community builder Jean Algar, caring county resident Lisa Zachariah, and lifelong volun-
teer Don Roberts as the winners chosen by a committee comprised of last year's inaugural winners of the awards Fran Renoy, John Mather, and Carlyn Moulton. Prinzen was nominated for her award by Sarah Armstrong, the director of children's ministries at Emmanuel Baptist Church. While she said she works with a number of involved, enthusiastic young vol-
unteers, Armstrong indicated the 17-year-old PECI student stands out. "We calculated her hours a few months ago for school, and she continues to volunteer faithfully every week, Armstrong said. "She quietly does whatever needs to be done and is constantly looking for someone who needs help. She is always willing to help, is consistently cheerful, always patient, completely kind-hearted, and
proves that little things add up to a lot." Prinzen has worked with First Nations children on territory near Parry Sound, Ont. and given her time to help underprivileged youth in a camp within the county. She has also played volleyball and rugby at PECI and has worked on the Prince Edward County Lavender Farm.
See VOLUNTEERS, page 33
With time waning, the refrain was much the same at the second public Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) meeting Thursday at PECI. The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board hosted its second of two public intake sessions where parents and community leaders voiced their concern over the public school board's initial recommendation to close and consolidate learning institutions in Prince Edward County due to declining enrolment and aging infrastructure. As was the case in early February, the board’s initial recommendations to close Queen Elizabeth, Pinecrest Memorial, and Sophiasburgh Central over the next two years to create a Kindergarten-toGrade 12 facility at PECI as well as close Kente and build a new consolidated school in Wellington to replace C.M.L. Snider by 2020 is alarming parents of young children and causing concern among community members about the future of the county's rural communities. The local consolidation initiative mirrors a process playing out in other rural communities in Ontario as the Ministry of Education has clawed back and eliminated geographic circumstances and de-
clining enrolment grants as a method to push school boards to deal with their half-empty and prohibitive-to-repair institutions. The board has stressed the initial recommendation serves as starting point for the ARC process which includes input from affected school groups by way of ARC work group meetings but it's clear that starting point has displeased most. This was plainly evident from the lengthy list of presenters at Thursday's meeting which was not as well attended at the first public intake meeting and didn't feature much by way of response from senior administration. No, this was a chance for those concerned at the prospect of a Kindergarten-to-Grade 12 facility at the local secondary school or those worried about the future of Sophiasburgh or those bewildered the board wouldn't think to include Massassaga-Rednersville Public School in the process and would rather close Kente instead one last opportunity to fire holes into the board's recommendation and plead for time to come with suitable alternatives-or at least time to prepare for what many at the meeting believe would be the worst possible outcome.
See SCHOOLS, page 9
Inside OP/ED 6 HOME FINDER 13 SPORTS 27 CLASSIFIEDS 30 ENTERTAINMENT 35 FEATURE 37
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