Grand Erie District School Board

Grand Erie District School Board
GEDSB
Location
349 Erie Ave
Brantford, ON
N3T 5V3
Canada
District information
Chair of the board Dave Dean
Director of education Brenda Blancher
Schools 85
Budget CA$235 million (2006)
District ID B66168[1]
Students and staff
Students 28,967
Other information
Website www.granderie.ca

The Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 23 prior to 1999[2]) is a school board that has legal jurisdiction over Norfolk County, Haldimand County, and Brant County in the province of Ontario, Canada. The main headquarters are in Brantford.

History

The board was formed from the amalgamation of the Norfolk Board of Education, the Brant County Board of Education, and the Haldimand Board of Education in 1998. They were thinking about changing Brant District to Brant County between 1996 and 1998. The announcement of the new board was made on September as a part of the "Fewer School Boards Act." This was based on a report created in 1996 by the Bob Rae government; who recommended the changes. While the board was officially established on January 1, 1998, many of the administrative positions lasted until the beginning of May in 1998.

In 1998, under Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris' government, the way public schools were funded dramatically changed. Among the changes, the province replaced local boards' power to levy taxes to fund schools with a centralized system of education grants. The new regime was accompanied by a law forcing school boards to adopt balanced budgets. These changes caused school closures in the Grand Erie Board. Burford District High School closed in 2002 after eighty years in the small town, and several communities fought successfully to maintain their community-based high schools like Delhi District Secondary School.

Current projects

The school board has received permissions and funding to rebuild the Brantford Collegiate Institute, the oldest school in the city. According to the school website, the right wing of the school, built in 1910, will be completely demolished and rebuilt save for the facade and the administrative hallway. The 1963 wing will be refurbished, but not destroyed. The project is scheduled to take three school semesters and two summers, and some of the students will be relocated to the closed-down Victoria Elementary School.

Current Elementary Schools

Current Secondary Schools

Secondary School Athletics

The secondary schools in the board play in three different sports associations. Schools in Brant County play in the Brant County Secondary School Athletics Association, Norfolk Country Schools play in Norfolk Secondary School Athletics Association, and Haldimand County schools compete in Southern Ontario Secondary School Athletics Association Zone II. Schools winning BCSSAA and NSSAA move onto CWOSSA while Haldimand schools play in SOSSA. All schools move on from there to OFSAA

Elementary schools in Norfolk County

Waterford Public School is a public elementary school in Waterford, Ontario, Canada. Boston and Bloomsburg Public Schools, located outside of Waterford are feeder schools to Waterford District High School.

Located within the Grand Erie District, but not part of the public school system, is the Old Colony Mennonite School, a private co-educational school for German Mennonites in the community of Langton, Ontario, Canada. The school teaches kindergarten through the eighth grade as in a typical parochial school. Due to its "Old Colony" name, Old Order and Conservative Mennonites tend to dominate the campus. High school students usually go to Valley Heights Secondary School but recent changes in the school board's policy has opened up all secondary schools in Norfolk County for the eighth grade graduates.

Closed schools

Walsingham Public School was an elementary school that educated in grades K-8, formerly located in Walsingham Township, that was closed because of funding cutbacks and declining enrolment. The school was a feeder school to Valley Heights Secondary School. Due to the nearby presence of the Old Colony Mennonite School, which taught the local German Mennonite population, it had to attract students from both the northern and southern parts of Walsingham.[3] Musician Geoff Suderman-Gladwell taught here.[4]

North Public School is a defunct elementary school in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada that taught children from kindergarten to sixth grade. This school was once considered a feeder school to Elgin Avenue Public School. The school was established in the 1928. At that time, North Public School included the seventh grade and the eighth grade but they were eliminated in governmental cutbacks caused by a decreasing birth rate starting in the 1970s. Windham Public School was closed in 2009. Students now attend either Delhi Public School or Teeterville public school, making both schools K-8 (formerly K-6). Nixon Public School was located near Simcoe, Ontario; it was closed due to budget cutbacks. Port Dover Public School served Port Dover, Ontario, and was a feeder school to Port Dover Composite School before also being shut down due to budget cutbacks.

Two of the schools located in Paris, Ontario, Bethel and Queen's Ward schools closed during the 2009-2010 school year and were replaced by Cobblestone Elementary School. Forestville Public School is also a defunct public school which taught students in the Forestville, Ontario area.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Find a School Board". Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Ontario Regulation 107/08". e-Laws. Government of Ontario. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Profile Canada information". Profile Canada. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  4. ↑ "The Cohort Group (Grand Erie District School Board)" (PDF). Bath.ac.uk. 2001-11-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2005. Retrieved 2008-07-04.

Bibliography

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