School District urged to put off school closure decisions until the fall

With public meetings taking place to discuss the potential closing of one or more schools on the east side of town, teachers and parents are taking the message to the school district that a closure over the summer would be far too disruptive to the students.

With a decision not anticipated to be made until July 10th, the problem then becomes one of a sense of displacement for students who will not have had a sense of closure at their old school and will be dropped into a new one without much in the way of preparation.

These concerns are a valid contribution to the issue, which the School District probably should have taken into account when it first brought up the subject of school closures.

Considering that there is no burning need to actually close the schools instantly, the most sensible process should be to put the decision off to the fall session, allow the school trustees to weigh the issue carefully. Then if required they could make an announcement allowing for a proper closure of a neighbourhood fixture and a more reasoned preparation for those being transferred to a new school.

It does make some sense, one hopes that if the students factor into the equation at all that the suggestions being made are considered and accepted.

The Daily News featured the latest developments in Wednesday’s paper.

Parents plead for more time for schools
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Fear and anxiety will taint the summer holidays of students, support staff and teachers because of the school board's decision to look at closing schools during the summer months, trustees heard this week.

At meetings to consider closing Seal Cove and Kanata Elementary Schools Monday and Tuesday night, parents expressed their outrage at the timing of the board's process.

"No school in the province has ever shut down in the summer and there is good reason for that, because of all the problems that come with a closure at that time," said Debra Fabbi, a teacher at Kanata.

No one will know until the board's meeting July 10 what school, if any, will be closed.

By then, students, staff and teachers will have said good-bye for the summer months and will have no opportunity to work with each other through the transition, to celebrate their school or grieve its closing.

Students will not know their teachers at new schools and will have to spend the summer faced with the prospect of a new class, new classmates and a new building.

June Lewis, of the Seal Cove Parents Advisory Council, said the students have been really upset. They have been turning to their parents for answers about what will happen in the fall, but their parents have none.

"It has put our children under stress and that leads to health issues," she said.

Colleen Wiens of the International Union of Operating Engineers, representing some 225 support staff, noted that she is not even sure the district has a secretary-treasurer available in the middle of August to help arrange the movement of support staff - those who work one-on-one with the most vulnerable students in the district.

"Vulnerable children experience transition with fear and anxiety," she said. "These children already struggle year to year."

Fabbi noted that according to the teacher contract, all the supports must be identified and in place before special needs students are integrated into the classroom.

"That means there should be child care worker support, special equipment and programming set up before the child comes to school. How long will that take? Days? Weeks?" she asked.

Marty Bowles of the Prince Rupert District Teacher's Union, said the first thoughts of the district's teachers and staff has been for their students.

"A lot of the burden of this falls on the teachers. They have to figure out where they will be and how to move materials. It will be a mess and (by doing this over the summer) will prolong an already difficult situation."

Wiens added that the district's consultant Dick Chambers has put forward another option at a meeting May 7 - put the brakes on the process for now, while making it clear the board intends to revisit the issue in the fall.

"Closing a school in July and August creates a lot of uncertainties, most of all for students," she said.