Dear Editor,
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I think that the whole community of Yass shares the disappointment of those associated with Mount Carmel School and the actions of Archbishop Prowse, as described in the words of the Tribune, for having turned his back on the Catholic community of Yass in such a deplorable way.
It is not only the Catholic community in Yass which will lose out but really the Archbishop's decision affects the whole community in one way or another and the whole community should have an interest in the manipulative dynamics of the Archbishop's rulings, as the whole perspective of the town's educational fare is, in effect, halved.
The withdrawal of choices offered to secondary students in Yass without the alternative educational system is much reduced and, while the two systems were not necessarily in competition with each other, the fact that there were alternatives only strengthened what was on offer from in each of them for our students.
I cannot understand the Archbishop's obduracy in this and his failure to promote the sort of educational and pastoral care that was offered at good school like Mount Carmel where there is more ample evidence of the enthusiasm of those who wished to establish a Mount Carmel School for secondary students to study up to the HSC and I wonder about all their efforts in what they have been doing.
I understand that they had signed a twenty year lease for the premises with the Parish Priest to continue the school and I also read that the facilities of Mount Carmel were deemed to be sufficient to staff a functioning secondary school in the very adequate premises which Mount Carmel could provide and that the present staff would provide strong continuity for the secondary school.
In discussion with several members of the Steering Committee I also understood that there was some confidence that the student numbers would be sufficient for a secondary school to adequately function at Mount Carmel in the future.
It's such a shame!
PS. I was delighted to read 'News from Our Mayor' and of the various meetings that she'd had with the State Premier and with other Mayors and her thoughts on such matters are always of value. It's pleasing to note that there are Main Street and Economic Development Strategies and that the Barton Highway is in her active thinking.
This can only help to bring Yass back to being a 'Tidy Town' instead of being the 'Tired Town' which it's becoming.
Brian Millett,
Yass.