Pembina Hills trustees accepted the Westlock North Task Force’s report for information last Wednesday, declining to make a decision in order to have more time to go over the group’s proposal to establish a K-9 school in Dapp while closing Jarvie and W.R. Frose Schools within three years.
The task force, which had been created last year following a community consultation in Jarvie, also presented its report at two information meetings in Dapp and Fawcett on Tuesday evening.
More than 100 parents and community members turned out for both of the information sessions, though the Pembina Hills board meeting was attended only by a handful of task force members and one concerned citizen.
Facilitator Sig Schmold said the bottom line of the task force’s investigation was that enrolments at the three schools north of Westlock were declining and “going to get worse.”
Schmold said the task force had considered nine scenarios in total for the future of the three schools north of Westlock.
Besides turning Dapp into a K-9 school, they also considered a new school in Jarvie, several two-school scenarios, maintaining the status quo and converting W.R. Frose School into a K-6 school with the Grade 7-9 students going to Jarvie.
Schmold said the option truly desired by the entire task force was to keep the status quo, but it was not seen as viable long-term.
“If enrolments continue to go as they were predicted … we really felt we can’t wait until our schools get sick,” he said.
It was also decided that simply right-sizing W.R. Frose would not deal with the fundamental issue of declining enrolment.
The other two-school options were ultimately only short-term solutions, and based on their conversation with Alberta Education, Schmold said they felt the province would not realistically fund a new school in Jarvie.
A consolidated K-9 school would offer a number of benefits, such as a common school year, long-term stability of educational services, enhanced programming options and savings of up to $200,000 per year in operating costs.
If the school board accepts the proposal, the task force recommends double busing at the new K-9 school wherein the older students would travel separately from the elementary students.
It was also recommended the division consider creating a transition team of staff, parents and community members to do detailed planning for the regional school.
In a point acknowledged by Schmold himself, it should be noted that their proposal did not have unanimous consent within the task force; indeed, members Cheryl Houle and Valerie Montgomery both read statements at the Dapp meeting saying they did not agree with the recommendation.
Schmold noted the presentation of the report ends both his role as facilitator and that of the task force; after that day, the ball is entirely in the school division’s court.
In an interview following the meeting, board chair Sharon Volorney said they will discuss the recommendation further at their Feb. 13 meeting.
Volorney said some of the discussion will likely occur in-camera, but the meat and potatoes of the conversation will occur in the public portion of meetings.
However, she stressed that trustees must still digest all of the information presented and consider it further. “We need time to consider and develop our response,” she said.
For more on the task force’s report and the community reaction, see Page 1 of this week’s Town & Country.
