Emotional trustees seal the fate of east side schools

"The time has come that we need to decide"--School Trustee Louisa Sanchez, at Tuesday night's School board meeting

And decide they did, the Daily News provides a comprehensive look at the events of Tuesday nights school district 52 meeting, which gave the final go ahead to close Seal Cove and Kanata schools at the end of August this year.

Trustees in support of the motion to close the schools (except for councillor Wiens who was against the closures) each took their turn explaining why they felt that those two schools should be the ones selected and then conducted their vote to seal the fate of the two east side schools.

Trustee Brian Johnson abstained from voting, as he felt that he had missed too many recent meetings and may have missed out on important information regarding the closures that could have influenced his voting.

That's a sentiment that might raise an eyebrow of one or two parents across the city, especially on the east side. Where opinion might hold, that in such an important vote as a school closure, it might be incumbent on the trustees to investigate on their own any outstanding issues that could sway their vote. If ever you were to cast a vote at a school board meeting, you would think that it would be when the fate of a school is at stake.

Trustee Wiens made his case for keeping the schools open, advocating the satus quo until the district could present its case to the province for a new school, at which time the Seal Cove and Kanata properties could be sold. As the evening went along however, he didn't seem to provide enough evidence to turn the tide on his own.

In the end, he was the lone dissenting vote on the closures, as the board went ahead with the recommendations, making this the last year for the east side students in their familiar surroundings.

The full review of the emotionally draining three hour meeting, was presented in Wednesday's paper as the front page story.

KANATA, SEAL COVE SCHOOLS CLOSE AS DISTRICT REORGANIZES

Trustees make hard decision in bid to save dollars
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Pages one and two

As of Aug. 31, 2008, Kanata and Seal Cove elementary schools will officially be closed, following a decision by trustees from School District 52 at last night's board meeting.

With all seven trustees in attendance for the first time in months, the motions to pass and adopt School Closure Bylaws No. 2-2007 and No. 3-2007 were carried by a vote of five to one. The only trustee to vote against the motions to close Kanata and Seal Cove was Russell Wiens. Only six of seven trustees voted in the both cases because trustee Brian Johnson abstained from voting, admitting he had missed important recent meetings that may have provided details necessary to influence his decision.

The motion to give Westview Elementary's School Closure Bylaw a first and second reading was brought forth by Tina Last, after passing her role as chair to Janet Mirau, but was not seconded and therefore defeated.

Before the motion to give Port Edward's bylaw a first or second reading could be put forward, another motion to engage the District of Port Edward in partnering to resolve cost issues was tabled by Mirau, and unanimously carried by the board.

The nearly three-hour meeting was an emotional one for trustees, who all went into detail describing their decision-making processes, and aside from Wiens, explained why they felt closing Kanata and Seal Cove schools was necessary.

In both cases, Trustee Bart Kuntz brought forth the motions to pass and adopt the school closure bylaws, and both times he was seconded by Barry McDonald. Kuntz stated that it should not matter what school students attended in the district, as the level of professionalism, support and education that students receive is exceptional at all of Prince Rupert's schools.

He also said he felt that as a trustee, he would not be doing his job by continuing to allow educational funding to be spent on repairs to buildings.

"I really do believe that my child can go anywhere in this district and thrive," said Kuntz. "When people talk to me about individual schools I get upset, because I really believe that there are staff and teachers at every school that will give them the same care or better."

People defend their schools, and that's a beautiful thing, but the facts are, wherever students go in the district, there are excellent people there, and there will be more pros than cons if the motion goes forward."

Barry also said that he would rather see money spent on books and programs, and that schools are only as good as the parents, teachers and community make them.

"The good part about all this is that all of sudden we have the community, and people at Westview, Seal Cove and Kanata rallying around [their schools], but why haven't people been doing this before?" he asked. "All of a sudden it comes to this and everybody steps up and starts to realize what the school is doing for the community."

In voting against closures, Wiens said that although the District Visioning Committee and administrative recommendations were compelling, he didn't feel that an immediate decision to close schools was the best option.

"I believe there is a better way to achieve the goals of our district, which is the renewal of our buildings and furthering our support of student learning," he said. "I believe that we need to present a case to the Ministry of Education where we as a school district and as a board, take a full advocacy route and put forward a notion that if we could have a school built, we would then sell the properties of Seal Cove and Kanata and take down the building on Conrad."

Last admitted there were strong cases for both sides and that she had kept an open mind over the course of the last 12 months, but said that waiting any longer to take action was not helping the 2,500 local students.

"Are we saying that we are currently delivering the best education that our students deserve? I don't believe that's the case," said Last. "We are pouring education dollars of the students of today and tomorrow into tired, aging, costly-to-maintain buildings. I want to see programs enhanced, I want to see education improve. I don't want to put more paint on buildings, that's not my goal and that's not what I signed on for."

Mirau said that while no trustees liked the situation they were faced with, the board was bound by ministry policy to operate within the scope of what they're given to work with.

"I look at our capital and operating funding, and we should be saving 50 to 80 per cent of what we're given for buildings, but we don't save anything," said Mirau. "We spent 171 per cent of that budget, which means we spent all that money we were given and a whole bunch more with money that was set aside for educating children and programming. We had to take from that in order to duct tape our buildings together, and to keep them functional.

"I don't want to close schools, but we as a community have an opportunity to join together for the greater good, and all join together to create solutions to problems that are so incredibly challenging."

Louisa Sanchez noted that although she hadn't planned on saying anything at all, she wanted to see full-time librarians in schools, special education needs met, and all the extra programming back into classrooms.

"It is very hard for me tonight sitting here listening to everything, but for me the time has come," said Sanchez.

"The time has come that we need to decide."

School distrcit settles on two schools for closure

In the end, the school closure debate would resemble what it was at the start of the year. With the originally proposed schools once again the ones on the chopping block, destined not to be joined by any other schools for the next few years at any rate.

While the last few weeks had seen the introduction of the potential closures of Westview and Port Edward Elementary Schools as a talking point, Tuesday's School District 52 Meeting seemed to move them off of the closure list.

The Northern View posted a story on Tuesday night, outlining the deliberations of the School Board as they met to decide the fate of local schools on the closure list.

And as things would finally shake out, it will be Seal Cove and Kanata schools that will close their doors on August 31, 2008 with new catchment areas for those students to be drawn up.

The contentious issue of the closure of Westview school, a move recommended by staff a few weeks ago never got off the table, as the motion to close the school in 2009 never received a seconder, a move that will leave the school and its French immersion program intact and remove what was shaping up to be perhaps the most controversial of all the school closure proposals.

Likewise, the surprise announcement last month that Port Edward school was being considered for closure did not gain much traction either, as the Board decided to work with the District of Port Edward to work out a partnership to keep the school open.

A desire that Port Edward council had hoped could be arrived at, fearful that the closure of the school would have serious effects on the potential growth of the town and have a detrimental impact on the existing population.

Board votes to close two schools
By Shaun Thomas

The Northern View

March 11, 2008

There will be two fewer schools operating in Prince Rupert come September as the board of trustees voted to close both Seal Cove and Kanata schools during its March 11 meeting.

Both of the schools will close their doors effective August 31, 2008, while senior staff said they would determine new catchment areas in the coming weeks. While staff had recommended the closure of Westview school in 2009, the motion made by trustee Tina Last found no seconder and died before it made it to the table. Port Edward School was also saved from pending closure as the board instead decided it would seek out a possible partnership with the District of Port Edward to keep the school running.

Trustee Russell Wiens was the lone voice of opposition on both votes, while trustee Brian Johnson abstained, citing the fact that he missed the past few meetings.

Look for full details on this story in the March 19 issue of The Northern View.

Trick or Treat, watch their feet, maybe they'll close the school on your street!

Just in time for Halloween, Education Minister Shirley Bond has donned the robes of the Educational Grim Reaper, wriggled her finger and suggested that for school districts in the likes of Prince George and Prince Rupert it can’t be business as usual much longer.

Citing declining enrollment statistics in the province which have seen 7,000 less students in British Columbia’s schools this fall, Bond said that Ministry figures show that there is a 24 per cent decline and 19 per cent in Prince George, part of a growing trend not only in B. C. but across Canada and in some other parts of the world.

For her part, the Minister said she didn’t want to speculate on school closures, but seemed to intimate that possibility, with a statement that “Our primary consideration is making sure resources go into classrooms and not into half-empty buildings.”

The thumbnail lesson plan for declining education was reported on in the Vancouver Province and appears on that papers website this morning.

Parents should brace for more school closures in the province
Due to declining enrolment, B.C. has an excess of $8 billion in school buildings, says minister Shirley Bond
Kent Spencer
The Province
Monday, October 29, 2007

Parents should brace for more school closures because B.C. has an excess of $8 billion in school buildings, says the province.

Education Minister Shirley Bond told The Province that enrolments across B.C. declined by another 7,000 students this year.

"I don't want to speculate on closures, but I can tell you the loss of 7,000 students will have an impact over time," she said. "Our primary consideration is making sure resources go into classrooms and not into half-empty buildings."

Before the 2005-06 school year, province wide enrolment had dropped by 50,000 in just six years. More than 130 schools were closed during that time. "Fifty thousand is an entire community," Bond said.

Enrolments have declined 37 per cent in Vancouver since 2000-01,24 per cent in Prince Rupert and 18 per cent in Prince George.

"Those school districts cannot expect to operate with the same configuration," said Bond.

Maple Ridge, whose parents have won a year-long reprieve for three elementary schools, has lost about five per cent of its students since 2000-01.

She believes taxpayers don't want to see their money wasted on empty space: "Taxpayers want to make sure the space is used."

She said the dwindling student population is a worldwide phenomenon.

"When I met recently with Australia's education minister it was the same story. People are having fewer children. It is a significant shift in world demographics. It includes places like Quebec, Ontario, Ireland and Oregon."

Bond admitted the process is heart-wrenching to the parents and young students involved. "I've been a school trustee and I'm a parent. It is very challenging for families and school districts. Trustees have to find the appropriate balance," she said.

The ministry is looking at utilizing space by filling partially empty facilities with community programs.

"We're looking at the community hub model, including daycares and learning programs. It would use excess space all across the province."

B.C. Teachers Federation vice-president Susan Lambert called the closure of schools "unconscionable" during the current economic boom.

"The province has a $3.2-billion surplus," she said. "Every time a school is closed, it is traumatic for parents.

"The community fabric is woven over a neighbourhood school. Every parent wants their child to go to the same school from kindergarten to Grade 7. They want to minimize disruptions and maximize stability.

"Being able to walk to a nearby school increases physical fitness and fights obesity. I know some Grade 1s who spend two hours a day on buses. When schools close, it means ripping out the heart of the community," Lambert said.

kspencer@png.canwest.com

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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.

School closure options to be discussed with parents

Prince Rupert parents at Seal Cove and Kanata schools will be getting more involved in the process of potential school closures at School District 52. The District is currently looking at possibly closing one, both or neither of the two east end schools for the next school year.

Monday June 4 and Tuesday June 5 will be discussion days at the two schools, with parents at Kanata to gather on the Monday, while Seal Cove parents will meet on the Tuesday.

The potential closures have become the topic of much conversation on the east side of town as parents try to determine how any decisions might impact on the education of their children.

The Daily News featured the developments as a front page story in the Friday paper.

Parents set to speak out in battle to save schools
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, May 18, 2007
Page one

The public is being invited to wade into the debate about closing schools on the east side of town during two public meetings that are scheduled for early June.

The school board is currently exploring the possibility of closing Kanata or Seal Cove Elementary and public meetings will be held in each of those schools to discuss the proposed closures.

A meeting will be held at Kanata Elementary School on Mon., June 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. and a second meeting will be held at Seal Cove Elementary School on Tues., June 5, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Tina Last, school board chair, said staff are in the process of putting together a booklet of information about the possible closures.

"There will be information provided on why we are looking at school closures, what factors we are looking at as to how we arrived here ... it will cover all of that," said Last.

"The superintendent will also have a presentation to make at the meetings as to why he, as the educational leader in our district, feels this is the direction the board should be taking. And he will have information on what these new boundaries could look like if one or two schools close."
These meetings are open not just to parents of students attending those schools, but parents from schools that could be receiving new students if the school closures proceed, as well as to the general public.

"As taxpayers you may not have children in the school system but you are still supporting public education. Do you believe the schools with the capacities they are at are a good use of educational resources? As a taxpayer you have just as much right to offer an opinion as parents with children in the school system," said Last.

Last acknowledged that the prospect of school closures does cause anxiety for people.
"A good percentage of the heightened anxiety is change, nobody likes change," she said.
"What Dick Chambers, our consultant from Prince George has told us, is the kids actually do the transition quite well, it's the adults that find it more difficult."

One issue that is already coming up is that of Parent Advisory Councils (PACs.)

"I attended Lax Kxeen PAC meeting this week, not only as a parent but also as their liaison, and they've made the decision to delay their PAC elections until the fall in the event they may potentially be a receiving school. That would allow any parent who could have children going to Lax Kxeen the opportunity to be involved in the PAC ... It's little things like that that will come out at these public consultation meetings," said Last.

While many school districts in the province have faced school closures in recent years because of budget shortfalls, School District 52 is looking at the issue from an educational point of view.
"We are in a unique, maybe even enviable position because we are not looking at closing schools because we have to, financially, we will eventually because we can't sustain what we are doing for too much longer, but we are looking at it from educational perspective - what is the best education we can provide through facilities and programs?" she said.

The district will inform the public when the information packages for the public meeting are available.

It may be of some interest to parents from the west side of town as the district will also be examining closures on the west side in the future.

"There's an impression we have targeted the east side and we are leaving the west side alone. That's not how it unfolded for us," said Last. "We as the board asked staff to look at our district and look at where we could start. We originally asked staff to look at the whole district but that was really overwhelming because you are going to create a lot of anxiety for the entire community and we really didn't want to do that. Not to say that we do not want to look at the entire district, but we don't want to do it all at once."

Staff came back and said there are three elementary schools - Conrad, Kanata and Seal Cove - all within a stone's throw of each other and it seemed a good place to start.

The board decided in early May to take Conrad off the list of potential closures because the resource centre for the district is located there, as is a Strong Start program.

The board may decide after consultations on Kanata and Seal Cove to close one, both or neither of the schools.

School District list pared down to two possible candidates for closure

Conrad received the reprieve, leaving only Seal Cove and Kanata schools to await word of their fate, as School District 52 ponders which would be the most sensible location for a potential closure if required.

The School Board has brought in a school closure specialist, Dick Chambers from Prince George to guide them through the process. Chambers a retired superintendent from that city was involved in the closure of fourteen schools during his career.

In order to gain as much information on the issue as possible, the district has commenced with a sixty day review process at both schools to decide which might be the correct path to follow and which school should be close if required.

Some of the factors involved in the process were provided in an article in Friday’s Daily news.

TRUSTEES EYE TWO SCHOOLS AS CLOSURE LOOMS
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, May 11, 2007

The school board has begun a 60-day process to look at the possibility of closing either Kanata or Seal Cove elementary, while Conrad has been taken off the closure shortlist.

Despite urging from staff not to make decisions before they have the analysis of what would happen in each of the situations, school trustees said they were not prepared to put people through the painful 60-day process at Conrad, where there is clearly the largest population of all three schools and a site in the most central location.

"The discussion alone will cause so much against," said trustee Janet Mirau.

To guide them through the 60-day process of deciding whether or not to close either Kanata or Seal Cove elementary, the board has hired Dick Chambers, a retired superintendent of schools from Prince George, who during his latter years had to go through the process of closing 14 schools.

Board chair Tina Last said School District 52 has been lucky because it has not had to close any schools for financial reasons while most other districts in the province have had to.

The idea behind the investigative process is primarily to see if the district can improve learning conditions for students and reduce problems, such as classrooms that have three grade splits, by closing a school.

Secondary to that is the concern that the district cannot get funding from the province for seismic upgrades for schools at the current low population levels.

Most trustees agreed with commencing the investigative process for Kanata and Seal Cove, with the exception of trustee Brian Johnson who opposed looking at any closure.

Johnson said the district expects to have a surplus of $400,000 to $600,000 this year and has no need to damage neighborhoods by closing a school.

"If we were really in a situation where we really had to make a decision and we were seeing red through the budgetary process, without a surplus coming I would say sure, let's take a look at this," said Johnson. "But until I see red and until I see surpluses disappear, I don't think this is a process we should be going through."

However, trustee Russell Wiens said now is the time to look at it, not when the district is in a financial crisis.

"And we have too many issues amongst those schools of seismic. We are responsible for all those children and God forbid if we had an earthquake and one of those schools got damaged and children got hurt, we are responsible," he said.

Last concluded the discussion by saying the idea behind the process is to look at what is best for the education of the students.

"If we do nothing, will it go away? If we do nothing, will it get any better? If we do nothing, will it get any worse? Hopefully, through this process, we will answer those questions."

In addition, the district is expected to look at the possibility of school closures on the east side of town at some point in the future. The district expects to provide notification to the public about the 60-day consultation closure process for Kanata and Seal Cove in the near future. Once the process is complete, the district will decide if one school should close and if so which one. At a previous meeting, board members were given a look at how students could be redistributed.

If Seal Cove were closed, around 30 students, who mainly live south of Eighth Avenue East, would go to Conrad Street while 30 or so students who live near 11th Avenue East would go to Kanata.

If Conrad Street were to have closed, 23 students who attend the school from around the district would have gone to Lax Kxeen, while 42 and 57 students, who mainly live in and around Hays Cove Avenue, would go to Kanata and Seal Cove, respectively. Students who are brought in from Metlakatla that attend the school could be placed anywhere.

Lastly, if Kanata were closed, 50 students who live north of Eighth Avenue East and east of Frederick Street would go to Seal Cove, while 50 students between Portage Road and Frederick would go to Conrad and 20 students in the Cormorant Road area would go to Lax Kxeen elementary.

School District 52 considers its options

The debate on how to best provide education to the public schools has begun at School District 52, as local trustees attempt to get a handle on whether closing a school or schools will in the end make for a better educational system in the city.

The debate over school closures has been a hot button issue in town for a couple of years now as the city’s population declined, so did the population of many of the city’s public schools. That combined with an aging infrastructure has left the board and its trustees with a few decisions to make.

The Daily News provided coverage of the debate in the Tuesday edition of the paper.

BOARD BEGINS PROCESS TO EXAMINE SCHOOL CLOSURES
Board chair believes it could improve delivery of education
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Page one

A month after balking, school board trustees will begin the process of looking at their aging and under-occupied facilities. The result of the forthcoming public consultation – which will focus on Conrad Street, Kanata and Seal Cove elementary = could lead to the closure of one or more local schools.

“(I want to) proceed with the original recommendation but I’d like to get a facilitator involved and have that facilitator be a part of the initial three school (examination),” said Trustee Bart Kuntz, who brought the issue back to the table. “I think a strategic plan for a two to five year period should be looked at. I’d like to start with the Eastside, hear what they’ve got to say but by no means is the Eastside where it ends.”

The school district had passed a motion that staff develop a plan to improve the education of students and obtain new facilities, however a number of trustees had rejected the next step in the equation which would see the board gather public input. Only trustees Barry McDonald and Tina Last were ready to move forward after the board announced what schools may be on the chopping block.
“We started this and we’ve told the community that we are serious about looking at our facilities and trying to provide the best education that we can for the district’s students,” said Tina Last, board chair, as trustees considered voting on the issue again.

“If that means trying to reduce three grad splits because of where we put (students) then we have to have that conversation.

“We’re not locking ourselves into closing one school, two schools or anything, but we’re starting to have a conversation which is important.”

Trustee Brian Johnson, who was not in attendance last month when district staff provide the pro-educational rationale for considering closing a school, was the lone board member to vote against now beginning the process.

Were the board to end up closing one of the fist batch of schools, they intend to look at, they were provided a glimpse as to how students could be distributed.

If Seal Cove were closed around 30 students, who mainly live south of Eight Avenue East, would go to Conrad, while 30 or so students who live near 11th Avenue East would go to Kanata.

If Conrad Street were closed 23 students who attend the school from around the district would go to Lax Kxeen, while 42 and 57 students, who mainly live in and around Hays Cove Avenue, would go to Kanata and Seal Cove, respectively. Students who are currently brought in from Metlakatla that attend the school could be placed anywhere.

Lastly, if Kanata were closed 50 students who live north of Eighth Avenue east and east of Frederick Street would go to Seal Cove, while 50 students between Portage Road and Frederick would go to Conrad and 20 students in the Cormorant Road area would go to Lax Kxeen.