Trevor Hopwood: ENROLMENT PROCESS MAKES NO SENSE

Apparently I missed this letter to the editor in The Sarnia Observer.

http://theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2215125

ENROLMENT PROCESS MAKES NO SENSE
Sir:My wife and I read your articles about the Catholic school board having to close St. Patrick's High School for declining enrolment. These articles infuriated us.

We are non-Catholic. We tried to enrol our son into Junior Kindergarten at St. Anne's Elementary for September 2009. We were willing to transfer our portion of the school taxes to the Catholic system. We were denied due to "numbers."

We also have a daughter that would have started in September 2011.

There is another family on our block in the same situation. Their daughter started Junior Kindergarten this year as well and was denied to St. Anne's due to "numbers." So it is no wonder that they have a declining enrolment.

We only live a block away from the school and our son could have walked to school from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12. I am sure there are a lot more people in our situation around the Rapids Parkway community. All the public school kids get bused out of this district and then all the buses line up every day bringing Catholic school kids into St. Anne's and St. Christopher's. This doesn't make sense.

Some rezoning needs to be reviewed which would allow more revenues to the Catholic school system. My son and many other public school kids would not need to use a bus for their entire elementary and high school years (which would save the system money).

I also read that the Catholic board wants $10 million of public funding to expand St. Christopher's School. Funny how they want public money but they won't let public kids enrol.

-- Trevor Hopwood Sarnia

Trevor is absolutely right - public money for public schooling, period. Ontario would not be the first province to ditch the two school board system and, believe it or not, kids in a single school system don't rob, kill or rape any more frequently than Catholic priests do (I would compare the statistics to kids raised in a Catholic school system but the priests are far worse).

And, Trevor, get your kids into the Catholic schools by doing what they do - LIE. Claim you're a Catholic - it's a far greater stretch to claim there is an all-knowing and all-powerful sky god who listens to billions of people praying. (I can promise you that there are many teachers who claim to be Catholics to increase their odds of getting job placements! And no sky pals for them!)

It's time for public education to be public education. Thanks for the letter to the editor Trevor.