ROCHESTER — Community discussions around the potential closure of Rochester School continue at various levels across the region ahead of Aspen View Public School (AVPS) board’s decision on the hamlet school’s future scheduled for Jan. 25.
On Oct. 26, 2023, AVPS trustees voted to re-open the question of Rochester School’s viability after an enrolment update by secretary-treasurer Amber Oko cited numbers below the critical enrolment threshold housed in the division’s own policy.
Rochester was one of four schools identified at risk for loss of rural small school funding from the provincial government, alongside Vilna, Smith, and Grassland schools. While trustees noted the decision to pursue another viability study for Rochester wasn’t an easy one, it was necessary.
“It is our incumbent, our fiduciary duty at this time,” vice chair Anne Karczmarczyk told fellow trustees Oct. 26. “We need to (gather information) to make sure we are fully informed.”
Division’s decision
The board’s decision to revisit the viability of the school came less than two years after the last Rochester viability study was initiated in the tail end of 2021. Focus 10 Educational Consulting Group Inc. was contracted for a thorough review in 2022, and after a month the board received the completed study, along with a recommendation that Rochester School be considered for closure.
For Rochester mom and school council chair Candice Jensen, the renewed study came “out of the blue,” following AVPS trustees' unanimous decision to keep the school open in April 2022.
“One of the biggest frustrations that we have in this community is this topic of possible closure has been brought up, I’m talking years — there are people who have been here for decades and it’s been brought up multiple times,” said Jensen on Jan. 18. “Every time it gets brought up, it creates this hesitancy to commit to Rochester School.”
For AVPS, potential loss of provincial funding and a substantial list of maintenance projects rank among the factors to consider when assessing Rochester School's future, along with the effectiveness of triple-graded classes, availability of courses and extracurricular activities, and quality of professional development for staff.
The division estimates an annual cost of $35,000 for utilities and upkeep of the building, on top of approximately $970,000 in maintenance projects over the next three school years.
Infrastructure Maintenance Renewal (IMR) and Capital Maintenance and Renewal (CMR) funding from the province can cover up to $54,757 of the costs, but both grants are reliant on enrolment, and the estimated $18,000 per year assumes the school will maintain the same student full-time equivalencies (FTE) over the next three years.
According to Oko’s October 2023 report to the board, Rochester School is at risk of losing $455,270 in rural small school funding if its FTE drops from where it currently sits, at 36 students, to 35.
Community concern
Members of Athabasca County and a number of Rochester residents have said the renewed look at the school’s viability is a concern for the community as a whole. During their Jan. 9 meeting, Athabasca County councillors unanimously voted to direct admin to draft a letter to the division in support of Rochester School remaining open.
“In my personal opinion, I think it is extremely important that the county and council support our schools and hamlets,” said Coun. Tracy Holland. “I think it is extremely important that Rochester School remain open.”
On the evening of Jan. 16, a school council meeting was held in the hamlet for community discussion ahead of the board's upcoming Jan. 25 decision. AVPS Supt. Constantine Kastrinos and a number of trustees attended the meeting, as well as close to 100 Rochester stakeholders.
“It was well-attended,” said Kastrinos. “Community members were of course passionate, and pretty much exclusively in support of their school and their larger community.”
Jensen, who shared her fears over the potential closure with AVPS trustees Dec. 7, said they made sure the meeting remained respectful and that everyone's opinions were heard.
Jensen’s concerns include long bus rides for children redirected to schools in Athabasca, calling rough estimates of hour-and-a-half one-way trips “completely unacceptable” in her presentation to the board.
“I do know that some parents are ok with (longer ride times), because then they can actually work away from home, and it’s kind of a babysitting service, so there are two sides to every coin,” she said.
Another community concern, according to Jensen, is the veracity of the quotes for the school’s roof replacement, a high-priority project slated for the 2025-26 school year with an estimated price tag of $600,000.
“I want to be clear that the main issue here isn’t the roof, the main issue is low enrolment,” said Kastrinos. “We had an assessment done by an external third-party company that told us what state the roof is in … we’ve also had a third-party external review provide for us projected costs to replace that roof, so the suggestion that we’re making up or grasping at rough numbers (is) just not true.”
Kastrinos said other concerns over the school remaining open included multiple grading and a lack of opportunities available in nearby bigger centres and schools. And while only a few residents at the Jan. 16 meeting voiced these concerns, Kastrinos said many Rochester locals have already taken a stance.
“The statement is also in the numbers,” said Kastrinos. “If everybody who could attend Rochester from (the) boundary attendance area did, you’d have almost 100 students here.
“It seems like quite a few people have walked away. They’re not talking about it. They’ve made other choices for their families, and they’re not looking to stay in a conversation — they’ve already made their choice.”
Bigger conversations
Regardless of the outcome for Rochester School, Jensen put out a wider call for action by the region, the school board, and even provincial politicians for more investment into the future of rural living.
“There just seems to be such a lack of vision for rural sustainability,” she said. “If this is indeed what is going to keep on happening, then the division better get creative and come up with a different solution.
“Even the county needs to step up and start asking the question, ‘How can we start revitalizing these rural communities?’” she added.
For Kastrinos, the division's investment in the community has been clear.
“We’ve stood by Rochester School every year, and the community every year, in staffing it and making sure that there’s more than enough staff in the school to care for the kids, and as the public numbers show, to the tune of about a $140,000 deficit a year.”
Brian Hall, Athabasca County reeve, said in a Jan. 19 email that the council supports the school.
“I believe council’s role, on behalf of county residents is to advocate for our region, to work alongside our neighbours in the town and village, and with the board to ensure the voice and concerns of our region are heard by the province."
“Council supports the Rochester School and has communicated that to the board,” wrote Hall. “I know our council would be interested to hear Ms. Jensen’s ideas and any solutions that she would propose to breathe life into the hamlets across the county.”
AVPS trustees will vote on the future of Rochester School during their Jan. 25 meeting, after details of the community engagement conducted by Kastrinos over the last three months and the Jan. 16 school council meeting are presented.
The meeting will be held at Edwin Parr Composite High School in Athabasca, in room 203F, and will begin at 10 a.m. and will be open to members of the public. For anyone unable to attend in person, the meeting can be accessed online at https://www.youtube.com/@aspenviewpublicschools6794/streams.
