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PHOTO & SLIDESHOW GALLERIES
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| Last updated at 8:56 AM on 29/03/08 |
Government withholding school reports 
EDUCATION Engineering assessments of Holy Heart, Bishops still in 'draft' form, months after decisions made
ROB ANTLE
The Telegram
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| Holy Heart of Mary Regional High School is slated for closure as a part of school restructuring in St. John's. — Photo by Joe Gibbons/The Telegram |
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The provincial Department of Education is withholding engineering reports on the state of two St. John's high schools, claiming the reports are still in draft form - even though the local school authority made decisions four months ago based in part on the reports' findings.
On March 5, The Telegram asked for copies of the engineering reports for Bishops College and Holy Heart of Mary High School.
But Friday - 23 days after the initial request - department officials said the reports are still not final, and cannot be released to the public.
Provincial officials said that consultants are making minor revisions to the studies, correcting information such as the age of Holy Heart, which was listed incorrectly.
They said a misunderstanding led to the department not making it clear three weeks ago that the reports were still in draft form.
"Every effort is being made to get it finalized, and to be able to release it," Department of Education spokeswoman Jacquelyn Howard said.
She denied that the department is classifying the reports as drafts to delay making them public. But the government won't release what it has now.
"That would be a draft report, that's something we don't do - we're not going to release a draft report, it has to be finalized," Howard said.
"There is no intent to withhold it; it's clarifying information that's in it," Howard added.
The existence of the engineering studies is referenced in Eastern School District's (ESD) phase 2 school organization and capital works plan for the St. John's area.
That Eastern School District plan - dated Dec. 6, 2007, and available on the board's website - notes that "the government-commissioned engineering reports on Bishops College and Holy Heart of Mary High School were also reviewed" as part of the decision-making process.
The board did not say in December that those reports were drafts, or incomplete in any way.
Howard said the reports were "preliminary" at the time, but contained adequate information for the board to decide on school closures and realignments - "enough for them to be able to gather information and make their decisions."
Eastern School District spokeswoman Mary Tucker said senior board officials were out of the province Friday, and unavailable for comment.
In December, ESD announced that both Holy Heart and Bishops will close in 2011, as part of a sweeping reorganization of the city's schools system.
The average age of schools in the capital city is 42 years old.
The province recently found itself in political hot water over other building reports.
A month ago, Health Minister Ross Wiseman referred to assessments of St. John's hospitals during a media briefing.
Those reports were completed in 2005, but not publicly released until Wiseman inadvertently talked about their existence.
The reports identified $134 million in required work at the four acute-care facilities in the capital city. More than half of the repairs - $70 million - were classified as "currently critical" or "potentially critical."
The opposition parties questioned why Wiseman did not appear to know for certain whether the reports existed, and why he didn't ask for updates. Soon after, Premier Danny Williams announced that the province's hospital repair budget will increase by at least 50 per cent this year to address the problem.
The Tories pledged in 2003 to make all government-commissioned reports public within 30 days of their completion.
The promise was part of a sweeping series of accountability measures - including effective open-records laws - to wipe out "the tendency of governments to descend into official secrecy and elitism," according to the party platform.
The Department of Education could not say Friday when the Holy Heart and Bishops reports would be finalized and released.
rantle@thetelegram.com
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29/03/08
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Graham Bursey from NL writes: For a Government that Teflon Danny claimed would be open and transparent this bunch has a long way to go to achieve that goal. With the few things we do know about it makes you wonder what else Danny Williams dosen't want us to know about. Personally I am getting a little bit sick of seeing Danny Williams strut in front of the media and show his patented look at me how good I am smile. If it was not for all his complaining about Steve he wouldn't have anything to talk about. Sad thing is we Newfoundlanders tend to believe him. Even sadder I voted for him. Oh well we all are allowed to make the odd mistake. Will I ever vote for him or his Government again? NOT A CHANCE.
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| Posted 29/03/2008 at 10:07 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Richard from NL writes: From the Blue Book:
A Progressive Conservative Government will:
Release to the public every government-commissioned report within 30 days of receiving it, indicate the action government will take on a report's recommendations within 60 days, and ensure prompt public access to all government reports in hard copy and on the Internet.
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| Posted 29/03/2008 at 10:19 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Eugene from Town, NL writes: Wasn't anyone able to get Danny's input on this? I'd like to see what sort of spin the premier's office puts on this descent into official secrecy and elitism .
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| Posted 29/03/2008 at 10:48 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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