Parents push to keep school open
Final decision on JH Sissons expected at December board meeting
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 10, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
About 30 parents showed up for a meeting Tuesday hoping to convince school trustees not to close JH Sissons School.
John Stephenson, chairperson of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 board of trustees, listens Tuesday evening to parents during a meeting about the future of JH Sissons School. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
The parent-organized meeting was held to gather input ahead of an expected December vote on whether to close the kindergarten to Grade 5 French immersion school and transfer it to the GNWT.
"This is really bad news for me," said Tania Hercun, about the prospect of the school closing.
She told Yellowknife Education District No. 1 officials at the meeting that she moved close to the school from Old Town so her children could walk to school.
She said if the school closes, she'd consider moving.
The meeting is the latest stage of a process that began after an NWT Supreme Court ruling demanding the territorial government provide more educational space for Commission scolaire francophone, the French school board.
The government asked the school district to transfer one of its schools to the GNWT to satisfy the court order.
The ruling was appealed, but no decision has been issued yet. In the meantime, a Yk1 report recommends Sissons be the school transfered.
Sissons, built in 1975, is owned by the school district and requires millions of dollars of renovations. It's work Metro Huculak, the superintendent of the district, said would mean moving students out of the school while underway.
Huculak said the work has been low on the GNWT spending priority list because there are schools less than half-full in the district. That's also why it came to the district asking it to hand over a school, he said.
While the school isn't crumbling, it needs major upgrades to its mechanical system and its inadequate insulation means high heating costs. Piecemeal fixes would still entail a lot of work.
Parent Amy Hendricks said the condition of the building shouldn't matter as much as the quality of education it provides.
"I don't notice the fact that Sissons is old, I notice the fact it has good educators," said Hendricks.
She also said the district isn't doing enough to teach fine arts to children.
One parent at the meeting, who declined to give his name, said he believes the open spaces at Sissons and other factors special to the school make it the prime environment for students.
"I agree, the environment is special, but we can create that anywhere," said Duff Spence, another parent and former trustee.
He said focusing on maintaining a building would be shortsighted.
John Stephenson, chairperson of the Yk1 board of trustees, said he thinks the success of the school comes from a combination of factors, including dedicated parents like the ones who turned out to the meeting.
He emphasized that no decision has yet been made and parents should reach out to board members to provide their thoughts.
This month several other meetings will be held to allow parents to give feedback on the Yk1 report and its potential impact on schools.
The request for space was made only to Yk1 because it was determined the district could absorb the closure of a school.
The report by Yk1 acknowledged that, but also points out that with the introduction of junior kindergarten and only four Yk1 elementary schools instead of five, some schools would be nearing capacity.
While there was concern at the meeting that closing a school would mean larger class sizes, the superintendent reassured parents that wouldn't happen.
"They will not change," Huculak said, referring to class sizes.
The meeting also heard that should Sissons close, staff members would move with the children.
