Comments on VSB Proposed Process and Criteria for Continued Operation of Garibaldi Annex

Last night the VSB held a public meeting in part to discuss the District Management's document entitled Proposed Process and Criteria for Continued Operation of Garibaldi Annex. The document proposed a tight time line for the community to generate proposals and for the board to consider the proposals and vote on whether they are sufficient to justify keeping Garibaldi open. I've heard second-hand that, thanks to the input of members of the Committee II/III, the time line has been extended by the board, closer to that of the original December 12 amendment to the motion to close Garibaldi. I believe the final vote would take place on or after April 8, 2008. Meeting minutes are not yet available, but when details are made known I will link them here.
The proposed criteria (I don't know if this description will be changed based on the meeting discussion before being voted upon, but will update if found to be otherwise) is as follows:

1. potential for enhanced education opportunities
2. consistency with Board policy on alternate external use of facilities; and
3. impact on VSB staffing and revenues and expenditures

A grave concern with criteria 1 and 3 is that they are not measurable and as such are meaningless. There is no way for the community to design a solution if the goal posts are not known in advance. Useful metrics might have been along the lines of: put in a plan that would

• reduce the cost per student to $8,000/year by 2013,
• offset the operational costs by $50,000/year (through night programs or third-party daycare and preschool providers)
• eliminate the lengthy French Immersion waiting list at Hastings school

As such, the Board's members cannot be held accountable to how they vote in April as it will be up to each member to make up their own minds as to whether the criteria have been met rather than to measure against a self-evident metric. Comments?