Aspen View Public School Division stated it will not be revisiting the closure of any Aspen View school until September 2016.
The schools in Rochester, Grassland and Smith all fell below the minimum critical enrolment numbers this September. However, the board has made a promise to not only keep these schools open, but allow them to plan for the next three years.
“Smith will almost always fall under this policy. Rochester will always fall under this policy and Grassland, at the lower grades, makes this look like a common occurrence,” superintendent Mark Francis said.
Trustee Lewis Semashkewich made the motion to not investigate closures at this time, while trustee Pat Pedersen presented the motion that Aspen View would not look at closures until 2016. Both motions were approved.
“I feel for these communities, it is very important that we don’t defer it to next year,” Pedersen said. “There is too much uncertainty, particularly for staff, the community and students. We are giving them an assurance of more than they have had these last few years.”
Each September, after enrolment numbers have been finalized, the division reviews the schools that fall below the division’s critical minimum enrolment numbers. Under current policy, the board must then render a decision to either keep the school open or close it.
“At today’s meeting, I am required by policy to present the enrolments of the schools and alert the board of schools that fall under 20 students in three consecutive grades,” Francis said.
He stated Grassland, Smith and Rochester Schools all fall under this category.
Francis also informed the board that making a year-to-year decision on keeping schools open is not preferable to the school.
“As a principal, how do I plan (for) next year if I find out every September (if) the school is staying open?” Francis said.
He added that Rochester School has a lot of teachers that are requesting transfers. He believes having a motion to keep the school open longer than a year will decrease the amount of those requests.
Trustee Trevor Yeaman agreed with both motions that keep these schools open.
“I whole-heartedly agree. I would still like information regarding the schools,” he said. “The information is very handy. We could look at that over the next six months or so, then we can be informed and if a decision was needed in the future, we could be ready.”
Yeaman wants to see the numbers for students attending the schools, the cost of keeping them open and the cost savings if they were to be closed.
He feels that with this knowledge in the future, if a decision has to be made regarding the future of a school, the board will be better prepared.
“There is a lot of information that I don’t have,” Yeaman said.
The trustees were clear that the motion keeping the school open until 2016 could be rescinded if a major financial change occurred.
In addition, the board would like to organize community consultations to receive input from those communities, despite the motion to keep the schools open.
One deciding factor for the board to keep the school open was the lack of certainty regarding the change in government, the new Education Act and school funding.
“There is uncertainty under the new (Education) Act,” Francis said.
“We don’t know what the funding will be next year, which could completely change.”
With the appointment of new Education Minister Gordon Dirks, and an election in just more than a year away, the division has a lot of questions.
“With the uncertainty of the new act, budgeting levels, we may start a process, when we might have a drastic change in the funding,” Francis said.
