YELLOWKNIFE - Public and Catholic school trustees have yet to come to any arrangement for placing students next year to accommodate the retrofitting of St. Joseph school.

The billboard in front of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 office advertises that shared space works. The Yellowknife Catholic school board doesn't agree. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

Yellowknife Education District No.1 refuses to close down any of their schools and lease one to Yellowknife Catholic Schools as requested by Education Minister Charles Dent in a letter sent to the public school district last month.

Dent told Yk No.1 he was reallocating $300,000 from the district's budget to YCS to "encourage" them to give up a school.

YK No.1 vice-chair Duff Spence said he is ready to absorb a $300,000 cut in funding through their cumulative surplus of $2 million at a board meeting March 13.

The YK No.1 board passed a motion to approve sharing space with the Yellowknife Catholic School board for the next school year.

But YCS Chair Shannon Gullberg said although they are grateful for the arrangements Yk No.1 made to temporarily house St. Joe's students this year, the current shared space arrangement is not beneficial to the students.

"Shared space doesn't work," Gullberg told the YCS school board at a meeting March 14. "For the long term, students and staff need stability."

Retrofitting St. Joe's is expected to take two years during which time between 100 to 280 students will have to be schooled somewhere else.

Gullberg said the arrangement doesn't work because each school district carries a different mandate. While YK No.1 offers a secular education, YCS' mandate is to offer a Catholic education. Gullberg said that simply isn't possible while using scattered classrooms in YK No. 1 schools.

"From the minute you walk into a facility, it should look and feel like Catholic education," said Gullberg.

She also complained that St. Joe's students are not getting fair access to support services such as guidance counsellors and gym time while housed in YK No.1 school NJ MacPherson.

Trustee Debbi Ross also complained about the $165,000 the school board must pay to lease space at NJ MacPherson that has already been paid for in public funds.

"As a taxpayer, it bothers me that we pay for it again," said Ross.

YK No.1 trustee Reanna Erasmus expressed frustration in not receiving any information from the YCS board about their plans for next year, and for Dent's insinuation that the board hasn't done enough to come up with solutions YCS space needs.

"I was very angry last week when it sounded like our district just sat back and did nothing," said Erasmus.

But Gullberg said she has yet to receive any communication from YK No. 1 to come up with a solution for next year.

"We're prepared to meet, but no one has asked us to," said Gullberg.

At a YK No. 1 public meeting last week, nearly 275 parents and staff rallied against Dent's demand to close a school.

Parent's primary concern was over the disruption of moving students to other schools.

Gullberg pointed out, however, that with plans in 2009 to retrofit Yk No. 1's J.H. Sissons school, students will have to be displaced irregardless.

She said that the most logical solution would be to use that school right now to house St. Joe's students. Once the retrofit is complete, the students can move back to St. Joe's in time for renovations to begin at J.H. Sissons.