East side schools could be on the closing list

The always thorny issue of school closures is being brought up for consideration again, as School District 52 tries to find a way to balance declining enrollment and the cost of needed repairs to a number of schools in the district. In what will prove to be an emotional issue local school board members are gingerly stepping into what will be a much discussed topic.

Conrad Street School, Seal Cove Elementary and Kanata School are the three east side schools being mentioned as possible candidates for closure or consolidation. Though the School district is taking pains to state that they haven’t made any firm decisions yet, in fact they are only trying to get the process of discussion back on track after a number of school board councillors relegated it to the back burner.

The Daily News featured the full story on the front page of Friday’s newspaper.

THREE SCHOOLS MENTIONED AS DISTRICT EYES CLOSURES
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Friday, February 16, 2007

One or more of a trio of Eastside schools have been identified as possible candidates for closure by the school district. Conrad, Kanata and Seal Cove have been highlighted because of their proximity, low student enrollment and the millions of dollars that are needed in repairs at the schools.

“(The board) passed a motion in October so that the community would be aware that this possibility existed,’ said Brian Kangas, superintendent of schools. “What we’ve tried to do is not just look at financial implications of consolidation and possibly a school closure or two, but also to really focus on the educational consequences of both continuing with the status quo and also what the benefits could be educationally if (the) board, in a consultation process, does decide it’s the right thing to do at this point.”

The school board had passed a motion in October directing staff to develop a long-term plan for replacement and renewal of the city’s schools.

In November, a second motion was passed calling for the board to begin a public consultation process looking at school closures. It was as a result of those motions that staff presented the list of potential school closures on Tuesday, with the next step expected to be public consultations to discuss the future of the three schools and allow the community to decide what other issues should be considered before a decision is made.

However, Trustees’ Bart Kuntz, Janet Mirau, Louisa Sanchez and Russell Wiens stalled the process by sending the issue back to a committee.

Sanchez was not comfortable looking at three schools on the Eastside. Kuntz and Mirau wanted more information before the board goes to the public, and Wiens wanted the exercise to include the whole district.

“Everything I’ve been focused on has been in terms of a district-wide chat with the community, not just restricted to the Eastside or focusing on one spot,” Wiens said. “We know we have to close a school, I think that’s a given and we could focus on the easy one on this side where there’s less capacity and more room for students to move and they’re close together geographically — but I would rather have the district as a whole.”

Board Chair Tina Last and Trustee Barry McDonald opposed putting the conversation off any longer.

“We’re not making a decision to close a school. By starting the process, we’re entering a process to look at our options with the public,” said Last.

“I’m a little confused as to why we need to table it only to discuss it more as a board to see if it’s something we want to do when we’d be leaving out a major part of that consultation which is the public.”

She also noted that at a recent meeting down south on the school closure issue that trustees were warned against having too much information before they begin the public process because it may colour their judgment when the time comes to actually pick which school needs to be closed.

“When the board first realized they needed to begin exploring this issue, staff had drawn up a timetable where meetings would have been held at every school but it was considered too big and staff was directed to look at the implications ... that’s what we have,” said Last.

“I think it can’t go without saying that we’ve done exactly what we didn’t want to do and we’ve set alarm bells off in three schools — we just don’t want to pass this motion.”

There has been no indication as to when a public consultation would begin, however 60 days notice is the minimum amount of time required for a school to be closed.

Other schools could also be included in future reviews with the exception of Port Edward, Hartley Bay and Kitkatla because they are the only schools in their communities.

SIDEBAR

On the Chopping Block?

Name: Conrad School
Built: 1943
Original Capacity: 315
Current Students: 191
Percentage full: 61 per cent
Seismic Repairs: $407,750
Mechanical Repairs: $2,610,133
Yearly Savings if Closed: $200,000
Other Impacts: District Resource Centre and Strong Start program would have to be relocated.
Metlakatla Students would have to be sent to another school.

Name: Kanata School
Built: 1967
Original Capacity: 240
Current Students: 154
Percentage full: 64 per cent
Seismic Repairs: $1,269,600
Mechanical Repairs: $1,709,605
Yearly Savings if Closed: $200,000

Name: Seal Cove School
Built: 1959
Original Capacity: 265
Current Students: 99
Percentage full: 37 per cent
Seismic Repairs: $1,097,820
Mechanical Repairs: $1,604,167
Yearly Savings if Closed: $200,000
Other Impacts: Discovery Daycare and breakfast program are located there and would have to be relocated.