Teacher helped shape Mountain high school decision

He's a physics teacher at Sherwood Secondary School, and at Wednesday's public school board meeting, he was the man of the hour.

Chris Weston is a father of three and head of the science department. He is also the author of concept F, a proposalHamilton-Wentworth District School Boardtrustees passed that prevented his high school from closing.

Board staff recommended closing Sherwood, Mountain and Hill Park secondary schools and building a new school for September 2015.

Weston's proposal was essentially the same, but with a variation: instead of closing Sherwood, it recommended trustees close Barton.

Ten trustees voted in favour and oneLillian Orbanabstained. Barton, Mountain and Hill Park will close in June 2015.

The board will ask the Ministry of Education for $25 million to build a new 1,000-student high school southeast of Lincoln Alexander Parkway, where there is significant population growth.

Thesouth accommodation review committee(ARC) had made recommendations known as concepts B, C, D and E. Weston followed the same naming convention and called his concept F.

Concept F was the only option trustees debated.

"Apparently it struck a cord with them," Weston said. "It means that the system works."

Students and parents participated

Weston wrote the recommendation with input from students, parents and the community.

Sherwood students also rallied, said Geoffrey Verrier, 17.

"We started campaigning, sending emails and making phone calls."

The decision tonight was "inspiring," said 15-year-old Lauren Hicks.

"It shows that if you fight for something hard enough, you can get it," she said. "It's something we'll remember forever."

Fighting for Hill Park

Trustees debated the issue for more than two hours. Orban argued passionately in favour of keeping Hill Park open, her voice cracking with emotion.

"If you want to save Sherwood, save it, but you're saving it to close Hill Park," said Orban, who described Hill Park as "the gem on the Mountain."

Hill Park has valuable early learning programs and all of its students walk to school, she said. And through redrawing boundaries, the board has "torn the heart" out of the school.

Mountain is a vocational school for special needs students. It is important that those students move to a new school together, and that they get plenty of support, trustee Wes Hicks said.

"It's critical."

Decision still to be ratified

This is the last decision in a wide-reaching review that included all but three of the city's high schools.

Trustees voted on May 9 to close Delta, Parkview and Sir John A. Macdonald high schools in the lower city and replace them with a new high school.

On May 14, they voted to close Parkside in Dundas and move the students to nearby Highland.

These decisions will be ratified at a board meeting on May 28.