With only Fort Assiniboine School meeting one of the criteria for closure, Pembina Hills Public Schools trustees decided not to consider any school closures or grade reconfigurations this year.
The motion, passed at the board’s Nov. 8 meeting in Barrhead, was in line with the final recommendation of administration to the trustees in the 2017-2018 School Viability report, which was reviewed that same day.
As noted in the report, the superintendent is required to annually apply the criteria for school closure to all of the division’s schools and then make a recommendation to the board for a possible closure or grade reconfiguration, provided a school meets one or more of the criteria.
This year, no school met the criteria for health or safety threats to students, and there were no schools with an enrolment of less than 60 per cent of students in their attendance area.
Fort Assiniboine School did meet one of the criteria: having fewer than 20 students in Grades 7-9 as its junior high program currently has 17 students.
Looking at Fort Assiniboine’s five-year enrolment projections, however, the school is expected to grow from its current population of 80 K-9 students to 85 in five years.
In fact, their junior high program is expected to crack the 20-student threshold in the closure criteria by 2018-2019.
As for whether Fort Assiniboine’s operation is creating excessive costs to the division, the report indicated the school is only budgeting a $4,651 deficit.
If the five-year enrolment projections come to pass, Fort Assiniboine would be in a position to have a balanced operating budget.
As well, if Fort Assiniboine were to become a K-6 school, Pembina Hills would have to allocate $78,700 less in funding based on the current allocation formula, but they would also receive $75,000 less in Small Schools By Necessity funding. That would only come out to a savings of $3,700 in instructional funds.
“We are saying in conclusion that operating a junior high program at Fort Assiniboine is close to being revenue neutral,” said secretary-treasurer Tracy Meunier.
When asked about the criteria for Small Schools By Necessity funding, Meunier said three schools currently receive the grant — Busby, Dunstable and Fort Assiniboine.
Pembina North Community School also receives a tiny amount based on nearly meeting certain thresholds.
She explained the funding is based on a school’s enrolment and a school’s distance from another nearby school. If that distance is less than 25 kilometres, then the funding drops.
The one exception to that rule is if nearby schools don’t have room to accept new students.
“That’s why you do have city schools who receive Small Schools By Necessity funding. Why? Because … there’s no room in those adjoining schools,” she said.
As well, while enrolment affects funding, the formula actually reverses if enrolment gets too low. She noted that Small Schools by Necessity is an attempt to bridge the difficulties facing rural divisions and smaller city schools.
“Is it enough? Depending on your demographics, depending on your make-up, depending on the schools that you’re operating, that looks different in each jurisdiction.”
Meunier also pointed out to the board that Fort Assiniboine School is strongly supported by Woodlands County, which provides funding to cover 100 per cent of the costs for the library.
As well, they have a very strong parent society that provides donations to cover field trips, instructional supplies and guest speakers.
Supt. David Garbutt said one of his main considerations in considering a closure was the education local students are receiving and whether Pembina Hills’ other schools are being negatively affected by the continued operation of a school with declining enrolment.
“If we have the numbers and we can provide efficient and effective programming and it’s not going to negatively impact the rest of the sites in the jurisdiction, we will do our best to continue, because we know that the school tends to be the hub of the community,” he said.
“I’m confident, based on what I’ve seen from Pembina Hills Satisfaction Surveys and in discussions with principal (Lorna) Hiemstra, that the breadth and depth of the program in the junior high is good. Otherwise you would see a different recommendation.”
