SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Kristy Ollerhead sits with her dad, Lorne, looking at his decades-old yearbook, poking fun at his then-shoulder-length hair and laughing at his teenage antics: "Look, there's the kid who got shoved in the locker."

Kristy Ollerhead, left, and her father, Lorne, look through Lorne's graduation yearbook. This is something Kristy would like to do with her children decades from now - but won't be able to because of a recent decision to cut the books for her graduating year. - Lauren McKeon/NNSL photo

In 30 years, the Grade 12 student would like to take a similar journey down memory lane with her own children - and is angry a recent school administration decision means she won't be able to.

Kristy recently found out her school, Sir John Franklin, has chosen to cut yearbooks, starting with the class of 2009.

"In 30 years what am I going to show my kids?" asked Kristy.

"It's sad to think 30 years down the road I'm not going to have that."

Sir John principal Patricia Teskey said the decision to discontinue yearbooks "comes down to money."

"We were running the yearbook at a deficit for a long time. (We were) taking (the funding) out of instructional money to pay for it. We have to make a call at some point," she said.

Teskey added yearbooks are "really expensive and take a tremendous amount of time. We need to take a look at the resources we have ... and say, 'How much does this contribute to student learning?' because that's really why we're here."

She would not go into financial details on how much the yearbooks cost or provide the yearbook deficit amount, but said the school has a responsibility to use "due diligence" when allocating spending money.

"The past administration felt - and that was a call made on their part - that this was something that they wanted to continue (running at a deficit). I came into the position and realized that it wasn't," she said.

She added many yearbooks are left unsold each year.

"You have to weigh the relative benefits of ordering 100 books and paying $45 a book and not being able to get rid of 20 to 55 of them," she said.

"It just comes down to logistics and it's certainly not something that we like to do," she added.

But Lorne said he can't believe of the "140 grads every one of them would not care to get a yearbook."

"I know a lot of people who are really upset they're not getting a yearbook. I think (the school) made a really bad decision," added Kristy.

And it's not only the decision to cut yearbooks that irked Kristy and her father, but also the way the school approached it.

Kristy said announcements were made at the beginning of the year for yearbook volunteers but no alarm was raised that yearbooks were on the line. Lorne added nothing was mentioned in school newsletters.

Kristy only found out about the axed 2009 yearbooks after her father went to pick up last year's book for an exchange student the family housed and asked about this year's books.

Both think the school should have consulted early on with students and parents, who, the Ollerheads feel, would have rallied to save the yearbook.

"But (the school) didn't try. It seems like they don't care about it," said Kristy.

Teskey admitted the school could have forewarned students and parents earlier, saying this was a situation where it would have been beneficial to communicate ahead of time "as opposed to people finding out."

"We apologize to the people involved ... but it's one of those things that you live and learn. We'll certainly be that much wiser when it comes to informing people of things," she added.

If the school had warned parents and students ahead of time, sponsors could have been found, said both Ollerheads.

Now, Kristy knows it may be too late for her graduating class's yearbooks - though she hopes people will step up to complete the books over the summer - but wants to push the school to reverse its decision for next year.

That way she can ensure "the class of 2010 doesn't feel the way the class of 2009 does," she said.

Grad ceremonies take place this year on June 27.