Yellowknife Education District No. 1 superintendent Metro Huculak addresses approximately 175 parents and guardians during a Nov. 6 public forum at Range Lake North School about the potential reconfiguration of the district's schools. Trustees will decide whether or not to close J.H. Sissons School, among other potential school changes, during a public board meeting on Dec. 9. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Today is the deadline for the public to have its say about the fate of Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1)'s schools, though many have already spoken.

The Yk1 board now has a flood of fresh feedback to wade through after a meeting last Thursday attended by close to 175 parents and guardians to talk about the future of the district's four elementary schools and one middle school. The public forum at Range Lake North School was meant to exchange perspectives on four scenarios being debated, two of which call for 40-year-old J.H. Sissons School to close as early as September 2015.

Applause echoed through the gymnasium early in the evening when several parents immediately called for the board to stick with the status quo.

The other three options revolve around the choice between keeping Sissons open or closing it. One would keep Sissons open and Range Lake would send grades 6 to 8 to William McDonald; another is closing J.H. Sissons and operating William McDonald as a kindergarten to Grade 8 French immersion school, rather than a middle school, and potentially transforming N.J. Macpherson into a kindergarten to Grade 8 school; or closing J.H. Sissons and turning Mildred Hall into dual track kindergarten to Grade 5 school with both French and English instruction, while operating Range Lake as a kindergarten to Grade 5 school.

Amy Hendricks, whose children attend J.H. Sissons, raised an eyebrow at the notion of keeping the status quo.

"I think there may be a perception that as long as we keep the status quo it doesn't actually cost us anything. The cost has been cutting of positions in certain areas. My personal concern is in arts and in music," she said. "Even though it's very easy to say we don't want to give up a school and maintain the status quo, we are paying a cost for that and our children are paying a cost for that."

Funding is tied to enrolment, so the fewer students a school has, the tighter the budget will be.

As the applause quieted following Hendricks' comment, another parent ­ one of several throughout the evening ­ asked for a breakdown of what the district's budget would look like under each proposed scenario.

District superintendent Metro Huculak promised the figures would be posted on the Yk1 website this month.

The board began examining the possibility of giving up J.H. Sissons, which is in need of approximately $20 million in renovations with no capital funding in sight, after the government approached Yk1 board chair John Stephenson about that possibility last year. It marked the third time since 2007 the GNWT asked the district to consider surrendering a school, several of which have low utilization rates.

The latest deadline to respond to the government's request passed long ago, but the board continued to develop scenarios in which J.H. Sissons would be offered back to the GNWT in exchange for a hoped-for financial benefit to the district.

Dale Bouchard, who cares for four children and three grandchildren who attend Range Lake, said her family is concerned about any change to their neighbourhood school.

"Let's talk about the impact on families that this is going to have. It's going to have a huge impact on our family if some of our kids are bussed to another school," she said.

She added Range Lake fosters a nurturing and non-judgmental atmosphere for children with special needs.

"Stats and that are great for people who are interested in stats, but we're keeping it close to home and worrying about our family and how it's going to be affected," she said. "The kids say, 'Grandma, what school are we going to go to? How are we going to get there?' I just tell them, 'Everything is going to stay the same,' because that's what I'm hoping."

Conversely, Samantha Bohnet, whose child attends N.J. Macpherson, is hoping her school does change.

"There's no way we're going to be able to get Sissons upgraded. It's going to cost $20 million. The only option is to give it back to the government, really. So, I like option three, which states that they close Sissons and make every school K to 8," she said.

Several parents, including Jeff Seabrook, spoke in defence of a designated middle school.

A William McDonald teacher and parent of two children attending J.H. Sissons and Sir John Franklin High School, Seabrook said a stand-alone middle school provides the staffing and scheduling flexibility needed to develop alternative programming in the areas of art instruction, industrial arts, and on-the-land activities.

Some students thrive socially in the middle school environment during the formative years leading into adolescence, he added.

Having previously taught for seven years at Mildred Hall, which is recognized for its aboriginal programming, he said that school would lose something special if a French immersion program were to move in.

Keeping five schools and moving Range Lake's higher grades into William McDonald is his preferred scenario, he said, though he recognizes this will not solve the $20 million dilemma with J.H. Sissons.

"If parents want to have a voice they need to write their comments and send them to the board members and state what they feel," he said. "Whatever decision the board makes I will support it and work within my means to make that happen as a parent as an employee of the district. That's how I feel. I felt that there was a forum for people to be heard."