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Karolina Zuchniak, Mississauga

July 4, 2007

Dear Editor:
I was very disappointed to find that your article only presented one viewpoint on the issue of St. Michael's takeover of Holy Name, that of the Felician sisters.
The privatization of Holy Name of Mary means that hundreds of girls will have to either leave their friends and teachers and switch to already overcrowded schools, or pay an absurd fee for an education that they should, by all rights, be receiving for free.
For the Grade 9 and 10 students it means that they won't get to graduate with the friends that have become like family to them. For the Grade 10s this is especially devastating, as it means changing schools for their senior year, the one that was supposed to be the best year of their high school life.
Instead of fond memories of their last year as high school students, they will remember the struggle of finding new friends, meeting new teachers, getting used to a new school with new rules, and juggling all this with the stress of planning for their future.
The takeover is also distressing for the staff of HNM. As many girls leave the school for the 2007/2008 school year, the newer teachers will lose their jobs, and in a year, all the staff will have to find new placement. Many teachers have been at Holy Name for over 20 years; to uproot them now is cruel. There aren't enough teaching positions as it is; the surplus of teachers that the takeover will create will make it virtually impossible for countless people to find a job.
The Felician sisters must have been planning this with St. Michael's for months, yet we were all were surprised when it happened. In my opinion this was extremely selfish of them, unfair to staff, students, parents, and the Board. Of all the people involved, I would think that nuns and priests would be the most selfless; obviously, I was proven wrong.