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School committee showdown

Jessica Gray
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 05/06) - A committee struck to plan education facility needs in Yellowknife may be coming apart at the seams.

The group was supposed to meet March 31, but that session was cancelled after Yk Education District No. 1 (Yk No. 1) members said they couldn't attend due to other commitments.

That prompted complaints of stalling tactics from Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS), which is now considering quitting the committee.

"I don't see any way the committee will be able to finish the report by the end of April given the complexity of the issues," said YCS board chairperson Shannon Gullberg.

She said she plans to discuss future participation in the committee with her board sometime this week.

Education Minister Charles Dent said he won't step in to help the committee members sort out their differences.

"My message to the committee members is that I'm expecting them to continue to work and resolve their issues," said Dent, Friday.

He and facilities committee chairperson Hal Gerein said they believe the committee can still meet its end-of-April deadline to present recommendations to the education department.

Gerein, a former deputy minister with the B.C. government, said he was satisfied with the reasons Yk 1 was unable to meet last Friday.

"(Yk 1 board chairperson) Reanna Erasmus presented a list of commitments Yk 1 members had," said Gerein. He wouldn't say what those commitments were.

Erasmus refused to answer questions about why board members were unavailable to attend the meeting.

The committee consists of representatives from YCS, Yk No. 1 and Aurora College. Its mandate is to find a solution to overcrowding in Yellowknife's three Catholic schools and the Aurora College campus.

Potential solutions to the YCS problem are capping enrolment in Catholic schools, transferring a public school to YCS, or sharing a Yk 1 facility between the public and Catholic boards.

Yk No. 1 has 900 empty seats in its schools, with several schools between 50 per cent and 60 per cent capacity.

All three YCS schools are at 99 per cent capacity.