The Annual Community Planning and Partnerships meeting held at the Bluewater District School Board Education Centre in Chesley on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 was a resounding success.

Thirty-nine invited guests, which included a broad cross section of representatives from local community organizations, along with senior staff and council members from upper and lower tier municipalities, came together for a productive discussion and exchange of ideas regarding potential facility partnership opportunities.

The evening began with an overview from board staff on capital planning priorities and the criteria surrounding partnerships involving the use of space in board facilities. This was followed by eight dynamic presentations from guests and a question and answer session.

As was the case with the initial Community Planning and Partnerships meeting held in June 2015, which generated ongoing consultation between board staff and a number of participants, further dialogue is anticipated with some of this year's attendees regarding potential partnership opportunities.

"We were extremely pleased with the level of attendance, positive engagement and collaboration at our Community Planning and Partnerships meeting, which was even more successful than last year's session," says Board Chair Ron Motz. "There was a shared understanding in the room that our board and partners must continue to foster close working relationships with one another to best serve the needs of our local communities, while leveraging our collective efforts to proactively promote the many great assets that our region has to offer."

The Ministry of Education's Community Planning and Partnerships Guideline encourages school boards to reach out to community organizations regularly to share planning information that may enable future collaboration. This includes opportunities to share facilities when building or renovating schools, and when considering the use of unoccupied school space and school properties that may be considered for future disposition.

Community organizations are invited to indicate their interest in partnerships with Bluewater District School Board at any time by completing an 'Application of Interest for Community Facility Partnership', which can be found on the board website .