NEWS RELEASE
ALGOMA DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
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Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Christian Provenzano and Deputy CAO Tom Vair spoke to Algoma District School Board (ADSB) trustees and senior administration at the Oct. 24 ADSB Board Meeting and shared on overview of the recently released report People Place Prosperity: A Common Cause and New Direction for Sault Ste Marie. Provenzano and Vair spent some time on specifics related to the education sector and offered ideas for collaborating with ADSB.
Algoma District School Board Director Lucia Reece has been an active member of the Sault Ste. Marie Community Adjustment Committee (CAC), the committee which helped develop the report that Mayor Provenzano shared. Lucia and ADSB Chair Jennifer Sarlo expressed their commitment to supporting the work done by CAC and to moving forward on this community development initiative.
The CAC is an independent, non-political committee established two years ago to create a comprehensive plan to promote community growth and sustainability in Sault Ste. Marie. Over the past several months, the CAC hosted a number of open houses and meetings to obtain feedback from a wide cross section of residents, community leaders and interest groups. The conversation focused on community development, specifically challenges, goals and how we all can help to make Sault Ste. Marie a more vibrant and resilient community. Feedback was also received via social media and a website was created to provide further information.
Here is an excerpt from the 20-page report that helps to capture the vision of the committee and an essence of the work done to date:
“We have what it takes to be a growing and vibrant city, but to become one we have to acknowledge some difficult realities and work together as a community in common cause and direction." Here are a few of those difficult realities:
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Our economy is stagnant and is largely dependent on a single industry.
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The demographics of our community are working against us, out net migration continues, and the elementary, secondary and post-secondary student population is decreasing.
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The social (health, well-being, and education) metrics of our community are falling below acceptable standards.
The time to act is now and this document is being offered as the common cause and direction. It should not be read as a final prescription but as a beginning that starts like this:
“We want Sault Ste. Marie to be a vibrant city with a population of 100,000 by 2037. We will invest in our People. We will celebrate our Place. We will create Prosperity.”
The full report can be viewed at www.futuressm.com and the community is encouraged to read it and “get involved in creating a better future for Sault Ste. Marie”.
Mayor Provenzano commented, “When education becomes the focus of our work, everything and everyone benefits including the economy and workforce, the strength and resiliency of our community, and our collective future. I look forward to continuing to work with the Algoma District School Board and thank them for their support of this important community initiative.”
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