At the Regular Meeting of June 10, 2008, a report to the Board of Trustees for the St. Clair Catholic District School Board identified both St. Patrick’s Catholic High School and St. Christopher Catholic Secondary School in Sarnia for review. An Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) has been established to seek a solution to the problem of excess capacity due to declining enrolment.

Under the terms of the Board’s Policy 7.4 – Student Accommodation and Boundary Review, and according to Ministry of Education guidelines, the ARC will lead the public review of this matter. The task of the ARC is to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees, which will include a strategy for solving the problem of excess pupil spaces, now and for the future. The ARC’s recommendations will be received by the Board of Trustees, and will be considered along with recommendations from senior administration. The Board of Trustees has the sole responsibility for making decisions regarding possible school closures and/or consolidations.

The ARC will hold four public meetings on the dates and at the locations as indicated below. Accommodation Review meetings begin at 7:00 p.m.

The recommendations of the Accommodation Review Committee will go to the Board of Trustees at the Regular Meeting of Tuesday, June 16, 2009. Senior administration of the Board will also put forward its recommendations at that same meeting. If notification is received by the office of the Director of Education from delegations which wish to speak to this issue, a special Committee of the Whole – Public Session meeting will be arranged for that purpose. That meeting would be held Tuesday, September 15, 2009. The Board of Trustees will make its final decision regarding this matter at the Regular Meeting of Tuesday, November 24, 2009.

It is important to note that the ARC's purpose is to develop a long-term strategy and that there will be no immediate changes. Whatever recommendations the ARC will make to the Board of Trustees, it is unlikely that they would be in place before September 2012.

This web page has been designed to keep our Catholic school communities informed of the Accommodation Review process and the information which is shared at the public meetings. For more information, follow the links below.

Administrative Review of Accommodation Review Process

Pupil Accommodation Review Guidelines

Additional Accommodation Review Committee Meeting

As the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) will require more time to complete its work, an additional meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic High School.

For more information, click on the link below:

Letter to Stakeholders from Ann Sutton, ARC Chair

Meeting Date	Location	Agenda	Reports
Nov. 18, 2008	St. Patrick		Report - Financial, Demographics, Staffing, Facilities, Transportation Demographics Overview Policy Review Valuation Tool Valuation Instrument Review - Schools (Part 1) Valuation Instrument Review - Schools (Part 2) Meeting Notes
Jan. 20, 2009	St. Christopher		Review - Demographics, Facilities and Funding Secondary Programming Focus Groups Summary Student Retention from Partner Elementary Schools Meeting Notes
Mar. 10, 2009	St. Patrick		Alternatives Matrix Review of Questions and Answers from Previous Meeting Meeting Notes
May 5, 2009	St. Christopher		Meeting Notes PowerPoint Presentation
May 19, 2009	St. Patrick		Confirming the Recommendation Meeting Notes
Final Reports: Accommodation Review Committee - Sarnia-Lambton Catholic Secondary Schools Staff Report - Accommodation Review of the Sarnia-Lambton Catholic Secondary Schools

Special Meeting - Committee of the Whole Public, Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 6:00 p.m. at the Catholic Education Centre, 420 Creek Street, Wallaceburg (click here for additional information)