Outside the Prairie South School Division offices, a gentle life-giving rain drizzled.
Inside, once the public made it past four burly security guards, 10 board members took 70 minutes and 10 motions/amendments to end the life of five schools.
When the funeral-like drone of board voices stopped, École Ross School in Moose Jaw, Briercrest, Crane Valley, Limerick and Willow Bunch schools were gone.
Chaplin School got a two-year reprieve to July 15, 2009.
The others will officially close Aug. 24.
Board chairman Gord Stewart said Chaplin survived the closure review because the school was close to meeting criteria to stay open with 58 students.
Estimated savings from the closures is $2 million in operating costs with another $5 million in building upgrades no longer needed, said Stewart.
Lower enrolments and declining grants are a reality, he said.
"We have to be satisfied with the choices we make . . . that students have a meaningful education," said Stewart.
It was a sad day with tears from parents and students.
"We have to go back and tell the kids we won't be here next year," wept Grade 12 student Jamie Message of Crane Valley.
"I hoped (trustees) would think about it. They had the decisions pretty much written on paper. It was: Close them, we don't care."
Her mother, Helen, said young students would be on the bus before board members are up for breakfast due to the closure.
Willow Bunch Mayor Renaud Bissonnette said the 138-year-old community needed another year moratorium on closure with seven new students and others expected as industry develops.
"They didn't give it to us. It's like losing a father or a mother."
The bilingual school receives $225,000 a year in federal funding.
Parent Angie Sjoberg of Ross School said the closure will cost parents more than the school division with the costs of lunches and transport.
"Who will buy the big homes in our neighbourhood? Not older people, not singles."
Vanessa Luke of Crane Valley sobbed while her husband Tim, one of three younger farmers in the district, said the closure will make it harder to attract young farmers.
Board member Ray Boughen was the only trustee blaming the province directly for insufficient funding.
Prairie South lost $1.8 million in grants while some city divisions gained $5 million, he said.
"At the end of the day, we have to pay the bills. We share your grief," Boughen said.
Ron Walter can be reached at 691-1264.
Prairie South axes five schools
Prairie South axes five schools
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- Published on May 23rd, 2007
- Published on July 10th, 2009
- Ron Walter
Outside the Prairie South School Division offices, a gentle life-giving rain drizzled.
Inside, once the public made it past four burly security guards, 10 board members took 70 minutes and 10 motions/amendments to end the life of five schools.
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Comments
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- Chad
- - September 18th, 2009 at 18:01:39
Charlene, no offense, but the rural group called the SOS Lobby group have basically made it evident they did not want our urban support when it came to this round of closures. They came in there with exactly the arguments that the boards wanted them to do, complain about the funding equation. Yes, that is the root of the problem, but this is much deeper, and for them to get ANY urban support (other than us at École Ross) they had to make it something the 'urbanites' would listen to. Unfortunately, they would not, and thus, this is the end result. I am not saying the result may have been different, BUT there would have been a MUCH larger turnout at the Leg for the Rally, and there would have been MANY more people complaining to their MLA's about this situation. Unfortunately the SOS Lobby group continued on the 'emotional path' in a way, and this did not help us in any way. The gov't has heard the emotional angle over and over again, and we here knew they would not listen to it. They'd pay the lip service, but in the end, they did not listen to it.
As an 'urbanite', please do not group us all together. We DO have sympathy for your situations. Unfortunately, it is a select few (particularly the urban school board members I presume) who come off as arrogrant people who make us all look like we could care less about your lives. That said, there were a select few rural people on the SOS Lobby group who made the rural people sound like it was only the bussing issue, and could care less about how our kids would have to only get bussed a few minutes. Thus, it made the rural/urban divide that much larger, only by a select few. But, isn't that always the way?
Anyways, my point here is that there is a MUCH larger issue here, and it is that of the power given to our school boards in terms of financing their own revenues through education property taxes and also the power to shut down schools without any other power to oversee the procedure to ensure things are being done properly. Also, there is HUGE overhead in terms of school division administrative staff, some with salaries in the six figure range that are just NOT needed. This is insane. The funding formula encourages divisions to bus kids, and apparently there is even a new version of the 'isolated school factor' that even encourages the divisions more to shut schools down. So, ultimately you will have 200 School Division 'Administrative' staff, with 10 schools in an area encompassing MJ, Regina, Swift current and anything around it. Sound crazy? Not so much when you consider the fact that there are now only 39 schools (after all 6 get closed) in the PSSD which encompasses from the US Border to Craik and Roleau to Chaplin. That's a huge land mass for such a small number of schools. And, we have 96 Central Administrative Staff. INSANITY. -
- Clovis
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:59:08
All I can say is that the way the school board handles the funds avaiable to them....I'm glad they don't manage my business.
Fact of life. Not quite. The fact of life here is that the made a decision, good or bad, that frustrated MANY parents in town - not a vocal minority. -
- connie
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:56:52
Tardis: Yes, I have already heard about huge negative changes being made or proposed in the area of special needs.
And I am wondering if these changes are to save money or whether these changes are to implement the administrators' philosophy of how special education students' needs SHOULD be met. That is, is Inclusion being carried TOO FAR to the point that special needs programs, services and accommodations for special needs students are being eroded or eventually eliminated?
Is this the direction we are heading; that is, Inclusion will be implemented in such a way that eventually special needs programs/services will be subtlely eliminated.
It ought to be very clear to everyone that Special Needs programs and services need to be expanded and not cut back. I am very concerned that so many students with learning disabilities and mental health issues are not being diagnosed (perhaps not even recognized)and are not receiving the services they need.
The anger and outrage experienced by the school closings now need to be redirected at maintaining services and programs for special needs students as well as acquiring additional essential services.
Are parents of special needs students being left with only one option; sue the School Division for not providing special needs students with essential services? (Don't laugh; this is being done in other parts of the world.)
To Julia (#16), if you could write a book on School Boards and how money is wasted, I could write a book on how special needs students are being neglected and mistreated; many incidents that involve special needs students that would break your heart and bring tears to your eyes. These special children deserve our compassion and not thrown into an Inclusion classroom where they are left to either sink or swim; most of these children will sink without the appropriate accommodations. I am deeply concerned for these special children. -
- Stu
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:56:49
Property taxes are wildly out of control mainly due to the proportion allocated to education. Despite the school closures, education taxes are still going up 8% this year. This increase is on top of about 7% last year. School boards have to find ways to hold down costs, not to exceed the rate of inflation. Pressure also has to be applied to the provincial government to substantially increase its share of education costs. Escalating education taxes shouldnt compel homeowners to be driven from their homes or make difficult choices on how to spend their shrinking discretionary income.
It would be nice if it was possible to keep all the schools open, but with lower enrolments and increasing costs, it isnt a viable option. The school trustees made the right decision and should be commended, despite the pressures placed upon them by a small vocal minority. -
- Leeanne
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:41:25
Charlene, We are in a position like you! My children's school closed as well and I understand your frustrations.But you must not take it out on us city dwellers.Yes you guys in the rural pay more for taxes but that is not our doing.It is the government you need to take it out on.We are just as upset about school closures but I am getting sick of the rural communities blaming it on us.I feel for the rural areas as to what will become of them now with these school closures,but you people are blaming the wrong people!!We are behind you guys as well as we hoped you guys were behind us.
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- Doc
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:25:09
I notice that there was no reference to the official press release from the Praire South School Board ... why? It seems that would have been at least quoted somwhere! Isn't journalism supposed to be balanced?
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- Bugsy
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:19:38
The comment from #20 ( Hey ) further proves the need to enhance our education system.
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- Charlene
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:16:31
Leeanne, We have tried talking to our Government and the school board, unfortunately they aren't interested in what we have to say. If you have any suggestions on how we can resolve this situation I'd be more than happy to hear them. I think urbans are in for a fight over the next couple of years with this current school board as your schools will be targeted next. The board cannot afford to keep all of the urban schools open and spend they way they do. Closing schools is hard on everyone, especially the students, however, we in the rural areas are forced to make our kids ride the bus for extremely long periods of time or Mom moves into the city for school. As for blaming it on urbans in general, it's much the same as ubans blaming the increasing mill rate on the cost of keeping rural schools open. Majority of us are self sufficient, unfortunately that type of info isn't always available to everyone. I also have had my share of urbans telling me if you don't like the bus ride, move With that kind of attitude, it's kind of hard not to lump them all into one category.
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- anonymous
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:12:12
My siblings are the products of a rural school closing years ago when there were no school buses, with impassable roads most of the time, yet the rural school was simply closed. Parents were left with getting their children to the centralized school however best they could.
Some families built a house in town, meaning they had the upkeep of two houses; that is, a house on the farm where their income came from and a house in town.
Our parents had to rent a shack in town for the winter months since the roads were impassable during the winter. Our parents then were forced to build a house in town. This was a financial burden.
I suspect there will be the same or similar burdens placed on rural families once again.
What do you think this does to the farms when families are forced to build a house in town???? In the past, rural families were forced to give up their lifestyle as well as keep up two households.
Nothing has changed or improved over the years. In the past the roads were impassable; now they are simple horrible! I would not want my child riding a bus for hours on the roads as they are in Sask., especially during the winter months!!
No one will ever convince me (i.e., the school boards, the administrators, the minister of learning, MLAs, or the premier, etc.) that the educational needs of all children is a priority in Sask.
After these four rural schools close, other services in these town will also close. Soon families will be travelling for miles not only to school but for all of their other essential needs.
When will the closing of rural schools stop; 5, 10, 15 yrs.? If enrolment continues to decrease in the rural areas, what are the long-range plans to meet educational needs of all children?
What will rural Sask. look like in 5, 10, 15 yrs. if schools are simply closed instead of coming up with some creative solutions. There are creative solutions out there, believe it or not! -
- Concerned Citizen
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:08:51
I don't get it.
Back in the late 1990's the old MJSD#1 fully recognized that enrollments were declining. No secret, they knew it. King Edward and Alexandra were closed for the same reason. There were 5 year enrollment predictions made and it was a forgone conlusion, something needed to be done and a plan needed to be put in place...then.
What Happened???....nothing.
They actually did not even reduce teachers or put together a plan. They simply hid behind the amalgamation threat. Gord Stewart and a few other Board members were involved in that total lack of action and extremely poor management.
So some 8 years later the axe falls, but the question is, how much money was wasted by this poor planning? The next question is, are they even doing any planning now for the next 5 years?
My bet is millions were wasted and they aren't planning anything. Take it as it comes and upset everyone with little notice because they didn't put a real plan in place.
What a sad state of affairs. You can see the train coming, you can hear the train coming but you have no plans to jump out of the way.
Maybe thats just Education Adminstrators for you, teaching the same things in the same ways that it has been since 1950. It obviously blinds your sense of progress and fore-sight. -
- Shawn
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:08:31
Simple solution, if it is feasible create your own schoold division( you have that right) and keep the school open. Keep the kids there and hire teachers to teach them all. If you want it bad enough there is always a solution the problem is the gov't is eating up so much cash and they aren't really using the proper resources to correct the problem. We have a serious situation in this city as well as this province with declining school populations as well as our population as a whole. We are educating these kids and developing them with Sask tax dollars and Alberta reaps the rewards of our efforts. Our young population has no reason to stay in SASK. So we simply bring them up pay for their education and rent the U Haul for them to move to a new home and spend all their earnings there. I don't know about you but that seems to be the issure I am seeing. This province can't sustain that way. We aren't not getting any return on our investment on educating youth. So how do we fix it?
Create new jobs. Develop strong strategies that help everyone not just a select few. Work the money around. Reward employers for doing what they can in the form of hiring through various tax relief strategies. Their is a way we just have to work together and start supporting each other. Things on this subject are not going to get any better unless we start getting to the root of the problem. That goes right back to improving quality of life and business opportunities within our communities.
Just how I see it anyway. -
- Shawn
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:06:08
Now the city can move forward in finding ways to open the school back up.
Lets take a look at the larger picture and work on attracting some new young families to MJ and increasing the student population so that we don't ever have to go through something like this again. -
- Charlene
- - September 18th, 2009 at 17:04:25
How easy it is sit on the other side of this situation and decide that the Boards decision was the right one when your kids aren't the ones forced to ride the bus up to 1 1/2 hours one way! How anyone can view the decision made by this inept Board as acceptable is looking at it from an urban point of view. We accept that our population is declining, we're not stupid, and yet the amount of our tax dollars that is funneled into the city schools is increasing at an alrming rate. Maybe it's time to revamp our tax system and remove farm land from the assessment. I would be more than happy to pay taxes on my 900 sq foot house and then lets see how high the mill rate goes. The majority of students come from the city so let them pay their own way. How would you like to pay 3, 4 or maybe 5 times what your paying now? Without taxes levied on farm land the city dwellers would be sucking the hind one when it came to money for education. Why do the rural taxpayers have to subsidize the urbans? You take our schools, destroy our communities and force families to live a part, so that our kids don't have long bus rides. What's next?
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- concerned parent
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:34:06
Just a note it took only 30 MINUTES for the axes to fly and finish not 70 MINUTES.
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- Concerned Citizen
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:32:22
No one will know for sure what the education landscape will look like in Saskatchewan in 5-15 years in either the Rural or Urban areas unless the School Divisions develop a long term plan.
I would suggest that everyone put pressure onto the Boards to develop these plans using the information they have such as enrollment figures and funding levels so that closures and staffing reductions don't have to come as a big shock to everyone.
They would be negligent in their duties as Board Members if they do not make these plans and live by them. -
- connie
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:18:22
I still want to know which one of the 96 Administrative Staff at PSSD approved the purchase of leather couches?!, while students go without educational services and programs that they desperately need and that they have a legal right to.
If there is money for leather couches but not for the students, then the Administrative Staff responsible for providing educational services and programs for students is not doing his/her job.
What are the priorities -- leather couches or educational services and programs for ALL students? -
- connie
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:14:44
It's interesting to read (#5 Trevor) that a school on South Hill received the other day new desks, leather couches, and a 50-in. TV. While at the same time very limited to NO services can be provided for special needs students (i.e., tutors, O.T.s, etc., etc.). WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? What are the priorities; essential educational services for ALL students or leather couches? Surely! one or two of the 96 Central Administrative Staff would see that ALL students receive essential services before leather couches are purchased.
Who approved of buying leather couches while PSSD Board was saying the Division was MILLIONS! of dollars in debt?!!! Is anyone in control or in charge? Which one of the 96 Administrative Staff approved of buying these leather couches?
Chad (#13) has gotten to the crux of the problem when he says there is no other power to oversee procedures. Chad is absolutely accurate in his analysis of the basic underlying problem. There appears to be no checks and balances whatsoever which results in utter chaos and as Chad says INSANITY!
And now that there are so many laid off teachers, the cream of the crop (the best qualified and most experienced) can be hired which would eliminate the need for nepotism being practiced when hiring (i.e., favouritism shown to a relative).
Again, a huge THANK YOU! to the Times Herald for giving citizens an opportunity to express these serious concerns. -
- Trevor
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:12:12
So how is it that a school on south hill gets brand new desks, leather couches and a 50 inch t.v yesterday???
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- leeanne
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:10:59
I hear ya Charlene.We ourselves were in a group to save our school here in Moose Jaw and did everything we could possibly do to keep it open.No help from our MLA,city council,minister of learning,etc.I do agree urbans are in for a fight to save their schools!It is unfortunate and sad to see this coming.We will have more closures in town as well in the next few years.It is sad for everyone it has hit personally.I agree that there is mismanagement of funds!!It is disruptive to all involved and I myself know you can not just pick up and move!!Easier said than done.We all need to fight this together for our future of our children and our population.It is going to take some time for us to accept this change as well have our children get used to it as well.I know in town here there are going to be kids separated from their friends.It is all going to take time.
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- Julia
- - September 18th, 2009 at 16:00:23
I have worked within the school system for years and I know how come schools get new leather couches, new desks, t.v.'s. Administration do not care about the students - it is the appearance of the school that counts. Look good to the public and who cares when a student drops out because there are no programs to suit the child. Then they blame the parents!!! I could write a book on School Boards and how money is wasted!
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- Tardis
- - September 18th, 2009 at 15:43:10
Connie,
You won't see special needs students getting help any time soon in either division in this town. Students are the last considered in any decision.
For example, special needs teachers require extra training and therefore get paid more. For a district who claims to be broke paying more for a teacher isn't good.
What do you do instead? Fire that teacher and replace them with a general studies teacher with no qualification to deal with special needs students - but you saved $3,000 a year.
With this crisis on our hands now watch for some big negative changes in the special needs programs in both school boards.
