Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 7, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Education Minister Charles Dent wants the public school board to hand over a school to free up space for Ecole St. Joseph students while their school is being renovated.

Terry Brookes, chair of Yk Education District No.1, received a letter from the minister Feb. 28, stating: "Across Canada, school boards are encouraged by the Province to close schools that are underused, and consolidate programming in order to achieve economies of scale.

"Our Government intends to follow a similar path," reads the letter.

Yk 1 has six schools plus community schools in Ndilo and Dettah within its district, but had around 850 empty seats as of last year. Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS), which includes Ecole St. Joseph, has three schools and student enrolment nearing 100 per cent capacity.

Dent's letter goes on to state that both Yk 1 and YCS will be funded "based on the relative classroom space requirement of each district in the 2007-2008 school year."

Yk 1 is slated to receive $22.5 million in territorial government funding this year, YCS $16.3 million. Dent said re-allocation of funds would mean the redistribution of $300,000 per year. The letter also encourages Yk 1 to lease one of its schools to YCS while St. Joe's is being renovated. The renovations were already scheduled, but work was moved up a year following the August 2006 fire that destroyed a gymnasium plus three portable classrooms.

Dent's letter states between 100 to 280 students from St. Joe's will have to be relocated during the renovation, which is expected to take two years.

The letter is posted on Yk 1's website alongside a notice to parents, teachers, and taxpayers informing them of a "stakeholders" meeting tonight at William McDonald school at 7 p.m.

The notice was also sent home with students yesterday.

Brookes said the purpose of tonight's meeting is to "try and find out the desires of our stakeholders.

"We want to find out what their questions are so we can do some more research to answer them," said Brookes.

When asked if he perceived Dent's letter as a threat, he said: "That could be a very pointed question. We're saying, 'we're going to find out for you and get back to you'."

Brookes declined to say whether he felt the minister's letter is a response to pressure from the Catholic board, which has been asking for a new school for longer than a year.

Catholic board chair Shannon Gullberg, who said during a board meeting Feb. 14, Dent was out to "eradicate" Catholic education, told Yellowknifer yesterday that "it's wonderful if there are solutions being proposed."

She hadn't seen the letter, but did hear of it.

"Our position is that we need more space and (the government) has known that for a long time," said Gullberg. "We're overcrowded; we need room to grow."