I finally recieved a reply from the Minister of Education. Good day Ms. Jennex You have not addressed my concern, TCRSB did not comply with the Education Act when completing the review process. The IAR as not complete. WHO HOLDS THEM ACCOUNTABLE ?? We have engaged an attorney, shall I add your office to list when we file suit? The Education act has been violated. You can Act or I can. Need I remind you it is an election year ? Please address my concern and explain why the TCRSB does not have to follow the letter of law. I applaud you in you move to bring about a new review process. Many people believe that was simply election posturing. Is this the case ? Your government holds a majority, convene an emergency session of the legislature and temporarily amend the act. You have the power, if you are serious. I hear a lot of talk but see very little act. I find it very discouraging when The board of Education will not step up when a law has been broken. On a side note I find it deplorable that it took your office over a month to reply. Regards John R Levac A concerned parent and Disgusted voter. From: Education Minister [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 8:28 AM To: John R. Levac Subject: RE: TCRSB / Arcadia school closer IAR Dear Mr. Levac: I am writing in response to your email of May 3, 2013, in which you indicate your support for Arcadia School. Section 20(3) of the Ministerial Education Act and Regulations clearly states that a board decision to close a school cannot be altered by the Minister. I do appreciate that the community supports their school and wishes it to remain open. Boards have the authority to manage their facilities and have the responsibility to make decisions on school closures that are in keeping with their long-term facility plans and their budget. There are no plans to amend the Education Act at this time. As you are aware, I am establishing a committee to examine the current school review process. The committee will be an intergovernmental committee including the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM) and other representatives. The report from the Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy will also help inform the work of the committee. Our Early Years action plan is also an important consideration as part of the review. Although this does not change the decision for Arcadia School, I invite all Nova Scotians to provide input into the discussion paper that will be developed by the committee assessing the current school review process. Sincerely, Ramona Jennex Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development From: John R. Levac Sent: May-07-13 8:12 AM To: Ramona Jennex, MLA Cc: Education Minister Subject: RE: TCRSB / Arcadia school closer IAR Good day Irene, I realize this is the constituency office and my request of Ms Jennex is related to her capacity as Minister of Ed. But I have not heard back from that office. Can you confirm that she has received the e-mail. I have not had an acknowledgement . I am awaiting a reply as are several Media outlets that have the original transcript. Perhaps you can impress upon her the importance of this matter as you replied very quickly. John R Levac From: Ramona Jennex, MLA [mailto:ramonajennexmla@bellaliant] Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 11:10 AM To: John R. Levac Cc: Education Minister Subject: Re: TCRSB / Arcadia school closer IAR Dear Mr. LeVac: Thank you for contacting the constituency office of Ramona Jennex, MLA for Kings South and thank you for your correspondence dated May 3rd, 2013 regarding the TCRSB/Arcadia school closer IAR. Since this correspondence was addressed to Ms. Jennex in her capacity of Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, I am taking the opportunity to forward it to her departmental email address [email protected] Sincerely, Irene Nickerson Constituency Assistant to Hon. Ramona Jennex MLA - Kings South 2-8985 Commercial St. New Minas, NS B4N 3E3 PH: (902) 681-3741 FX: (902) 681-6261 ramonajennexmla@bellaliant This e-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and erase this e-mail message immediately. From: John R. Levac Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 10:24 AM To: ramonajennexmla@bellaliant Subject: TCRSB / Arcadia school closer IAR Good day Ms. Jennex, I am contacting you on behalf of the SAC for Arcadia school and the Save rural NS schools group in Yarmouth. I have been directly involved in the fight to save Arcadia school, I am a parent of a child attending this school. I need you to understand I have no emotional attachment to the school as I am not originally from the area. I got involved in the fight because none of it made sense. Displacing that many students, when much smaller schools were out there. I am a numbers person, that’s what I do for a living. When I looked at the numbers provided in IAR it did not add up. Particularly the cost of repairs. We requested where this costing information came from and no details were provided. It is my understanding that under the education act this information must be provided. See the below from the act : 3.An Impact Assessment Report must cite all sources of data and statistics and document the methodologies used in the creation of the report The board did not comply with this , and as a result we could not refute or offer alternatives in our response to the board. Based on this I would ask that your department intervene. I understand that under the education act the minister cannot over turn the decision, however as the sitting government with a majority you can quickly amend to act to temporarily remove that clause . I would welcome a suggestions to an alternative approach as well. Thank You in advance for your ongoing Co-operation and understanding in this matter John R Levac A concerned Parent and Voter.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:29:45 +0000
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