Shame! Shame, says I!

I've sat on this particular post topic for quite a long time. I was counselled NOT to write it while I was still actively employed with the Board for fears of how it would be received by Sr administration. Now that I am well into retirement, I certainly have less anxiety about "rocking the boat", although I don't feel that I am being insulting or derogatory. I feel that the time has come to say what has been eating away at my soul for 4 years ... 

The decision to close Barrie Central will rank as one of the greatest travesties of poor judgment in Barrie's history, in my humble opinion, and the true reasons for that decisions are a secret more closely guarded than the existence of a female Pope.

First, a little history, to set the table ...

For me, this whole affair starts on the first day of grade nine, way back in 1976. That was the day that I was introduced to the mystique that was Barrie Central. In those days, new students gathered in the Fisher Auditorium waiting for their name to be called as the grade nine homeroom teachers gathered their flock. As luck would have it, I was herded into a typing class, something I knew that I had not registered for. After discussing this with my parents, we decided to investigate a change, visiting guidance the next day. It would be revealed that there were TWO Stephen Porters, spelt the same way but with different middle names, in grade nine, at Central, both blondish hair, similar heights and we somehow got our timetables mixed up. Rather than this becoming an irritant, I thought it was pretty neat, and we laughed about it. It was the start of a 5 year running joke as we regularly got mixed up, even though we turned out to be radically different. The key was how calmly it was handled, even becoming the source of many wise cracks over those 5 years since we could easily pawn off responsibility for faux pas's as the other guy's issue. My teachers thought it was great fuel for digs at my expense ... something that would continue even when I joined them as staff.

Throughout my career as a BCC student, I was fully indoctrinated by the Central spirit, thanks largely to the many outstanding personalities that taught me, many of which I still maintain friendships with even now, 38 years later. As a retired BCC teacher, I share a weekly Zoom chat with many of them. Although I fully admit that I had only one high school experience to compare, I feel strongly that there was more to Central than teachers and students. There was a special feel.

Following graduation, life proceeded along its pleasing path, and following my decision to enter the teaching profession, a series of events aligned to offer an opportunity to return to Central as a member of the staff. After a successful interview, securing a position brought a sense of elation, not unlike winning a championship. While there was the expected awkwardness due to a number of my former teachers finishing out their own careers, we shared some laughs, reminisced, and settled into the business of creating another generation of Centralites. 

Those years were magical! There were many days I was truly embarrassed by the knowledge that I was getting paid to have that much fun. With all hubris, I feel strongly that anyone that has not experienced a working environment like that has missed out. The staff, both young and mature, were the personification of care, talent, energy, pride and passion. Through their influence, the BCC aura grow steadily in its students, like a majestic oak from an acorn. There was something radically different about Central ... I know this to be an absolute truth ... but it was really driven home when the planning for the 2016 Celebration Reunion as I discovered a deeper knowledge of the history of BCC and the wondrous accolades and accomplishments over its 174 history.

Getting back to the fateful decision ...

The first rumours of the ultimate demise, to the best of my memory, started up in 2007. It was right around then that there was talk of a sprucing up of the tired state that Central was in. When I joined the staff in '98, much to my delight back then, Central looked exactly as I remembered it. Of course, as I understand it now, that was a problem because it was a stark reality that little to no maintenance had been done for a lengthy time, and now it was a real need. Being an elderly build, I soon came to realize that there were potentially harmful issues with the way it was built, and the rumours of how much it would cost to fix were astronomical figures, leading to a declaration from the Ministry as "Prohibitive to Repair." The ugly truth is that regular maintenance would have alleviated much of the problem but that was "water under the bridge." 

As we closed out the first decade of the new millennium, more whispers filled the halls of something drastic being planned, and accompanying those whispers were insinuations spelling the demise of Central. I distinctly recall being bewildered that closing the school was being considered. I fully understood that buildings have a life and there comes a time when the cost of fixing outweighs the cost of replacing, but as 2010 slipped into 2012, the whispers centred around eradication rather than replacement. I distinctly remember the main argument being bandied around surrounded the aging heating system, its supposed danger of blowing up, and how replacing it would be completely cost prohibitive. That was all subsequently blown out of the water by a BCC Alum who specialized in heating systems with his insistence that an external heating system could be installed for 1/10 of the cost that was being proposed to replace the aging boilers.

When the official decision was delivered, I little bit of my soul was ripped out.

The now public decision was met with a tumultuous Red, Black and White WHY?

The most disturbing theory that was shared with me hinged on the Board needing money and the real estate that Central occupied had the potential to garner a hefty purse. While a plausible theory, in my mind it was bunk, an opinion that was supported with the completed deal that sold the property to a developer for a paltry $6.5 million. In the end, I was not privy to the money issues of the Board and had little understanding of the support required to accompany the millions coming from the Ministry, but a decision based solely on money did not sit well with me.

Another theory I was told was far more malicious, and focused on the personnel that found itself in influential positions within the Board when the decision was made. It was pointed out to me that when Innisdale was opened, many teachers at Central were forcibly moved to fill the vacancies at the new school, leading to seeds of pay-back at the heart of the closure. While I cannot personally refute this, I pray that there is zero truth to it, but there were some older alumni who were adamant that this was the case.

Another theory centered around the construction of a new high school in the south end of Barrie. This one had "more meat on its bones" since the distribution of students had shifted with the urban sprawl Barrie had experienced meaning there was a slow shift that decreased the need of a school in Central's locale. This redistribution, coupled with the gentrification of the traditional feeder neighbourhoods, created a need to redistribute the students. I had never fully understood the origins of this particular one since it had been a long serving tradition of the Board to bus students from all manner of areas around Simcoe County. Case in point, when I arrived at Central, students were bussed from Thornton, Lefroy, and Bell Ewert, to name a few, while students from Letitia Heights were split and only a small portion of them assigned to Central despite being only KMs away. In addition, When I arrived at Central in 1998, 8 different elementary schools fed into BCC. By the time the actual decision was made to close the doors, the Board had reduced that to 2 schools. Of course the population was shrinking!

One of the saddest theories ever shared with me was that the school was being closed with the fear of litigations surrounding the alarmingly high incidence of staff members who passed due to cancer. It was not a secret to the staff that there was asbestos used throughout the school but we were always assured that it was contained within the walls, making it not a threat. The group that shared with theory with me postulated that as the building aged, some of that asbestos was released, and some people were in a rush to mitigate the damage before a class action case was brought. Understanding that theory was well above my pay grade but I will tell you that I have lost a number of close friends to cancer that I taught with at BCC.

As the ink on the proclamation dried, a number of ludicrous theories popped up, but I didn't feel many contained validity worthy of note. 

I place no allegiance to any of these theories. They were willingly shared with me by people in the same boat as me, grieving the decision and struggling to understand. To this day, I have yet to hear reasoning that rings with truth enough to satisfy the travesty of eradication. To eliminate all indications of Central from existence is the single biggest issue for me personally. With the tumultuous history that buildings housing Barrie Collegiate over its storied history prompting a number of different locations, I could accept having to move, but to close the school after 174 years with no plans to enshrine that incredible history will never be forgiven by this old alum. Many of the artifacts were donated to the Simcoe County Archives or given back to Central's passionate community for there own personal halls of fame, but with each passing year the memories of all that greatness gather so much dust, losing their shine slowly and surely. There will come a time in the not so distant future where generations of children will know the stories but have no tangible memories and that saddens me greatly. 

The Central staff are a crazy lot but we are really, really good friends!

I have had some acquaintances query me, "Why do you drone on about Central? Why not accept the fate and move on?" My response is consistent ... I have moved on BUT I also wish to keep the memories as vivid as I can, despite the years. You should know that many of the teachers, office staff and custodians make conscious efforts to stay in touch via Social Media or Email with messages of good will and glad tidings. We became great friends during our time together and we sincerely wish to stay connected. 

That single factoid should be seen as Central's greatest gift and most powerful strength.

It's all about meaningful connections ... staff to staff ... staff to student ... staff to parent ... and the knowledge that generations to come will not understand the power that those connections hold widens that hole in my soul a little bit more each passing year. 

"... and when I die, I'll be Central dead!"