BARRHEAD — After eight months of online surveys, public meetings and presentations from concerned residents and local mayors, the long debate over the Pembina Hills electoral ward structure is finally over.
During their Aug. 26 meeting, Pembina Hills trustees passed third reading on Electoral Ward Bylaw 06-2020, which divides the school division into six wards and reduces the number of trustees by one.
The board had previously passed first and second reading on the bylaw on June 24. Third reading supposed to be dealt with on Aug. 5, but a last-ditch appeal by a delegation of the mayors from Westlock, Barrhead and Swan Hills meant the matter had to be put over to Aug. 26.
In order for this re-structuring to take place, Bylaw 06-2020 had to be passed before the end of this year, as there is an election set for October 2021.
The electoral ward review began in January on the premise that student populations between the seven electoral subdivisions had become imbalanced, as Pembina Hills had lost 1,300 students and closed four schools since 1995.
Aside from maintaining the status quo, trustees came up with two other options for changing the electoral ward structure. A fourth option — the one that trustees eventually settled upon — was suggested during the course of a public consultation in January and February.
More consultation followed, though because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it mostly took the form of gathering input from school councils rather than another series of public forums.
At the Aug. 24 meeting, Barrhead South trustee Kerry McElroy — whose duties currently include representing the Swan Hills ward — again objected to the proposed re-structuring.
“I’m concerned about Swan Hills … because I am their rep,” he said. “They are an oddity. They are a community at a distance. They are our only K-12 school, and in my mind, we need to make an exception for them.”
McElroy suggested a different structure than the one proposed wherein Pembina Hills West — Ward 1 would consist of just Swan Hills, Pembina Hills West — Ward 2 would encompass Fort Assiniboine and Dunstable School, Pembina Hills East — Ward 1 would cover Busby School and Eleanor Hall School in Clyde, and Pembina Hills East — Ward 2 would encompass Neerlandia Public Christian School, Pembina North Community School and the two Hutterite colonies.
He said that would balance the population between the various wards at roughly 5,000 people except for Swan Hills, which only has 1,300 residents.
“Another question I have is … is there any reason why representatives from the major towns couldn’t be a representative of a school in town and a rural school?” he asked, suggesting such an arrangement would also balance the number of students.
“I just think there’s other ways of doing things,” he added.
Board chair Jennifer Tuininga, who represents Barrhead North, responded that the problem with McElroy’s proposal is that it doesn’t align with municipal boundaries, which could be “problematic” come election time because Pembina Hills enlists local municipalities to collect ballots.
Barrhead Town trustee Judy Lefebvre also pointed out that McElroy was operating on the assumption that Swan Hills would not elect a local resident to serve as their trustee.
“I don’t think we can go forward on the assumption that Swan Hills is going to be left out without anybody representing them,” she said.
Noting that she represents the communities of Busby and Clyde, Westlock South trustee Jackie Clyde argued that both communities are distinct from each other in both population and governance, and each school has their own unique culture.
“I bring this up because as a trustee, my role is to listen and engage with all constituents in my ward, not just those from the community which I live,” she said.
“Each of those voices are brought back to this table to help make an informed decision as to what is in the best interests of Pembina Hills School Division as a whole.”
Responding to criticisms that Pembina Hills has not done sufficient consultation, Carson said the division has consulted with school councils, advertised in local newspapers and been available for questions and comments from residents for eight months.
“For those reasons, I do not feel this process has been rushed,” she added.
“We all value community input. It is from community input that this fourth option was created in the first place. Of all the options, the one before us has the most equitable representation by both population and student numbers.”
She also pointed out again that eliminating one trustee would save the division an estimated $20,000 per year, and that 33 per cent of school boards in Alberta have an even number of trustees.
