Yk1 keeps the status quo
'This is not over,' warns trustee Mira Hall
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 12, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After a year of consideration, an in-depth study and a town hall debate, things are exactly as they were at the outset of all that, with Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) trustees voting unanimously to maintain the status quo in the division.
Around 15 members of the public filled the seats in the J.H. Sissons school library – where the board held its regular meeting, during which members heard Yk1 is keeping all five of the division's elementary and middle schools operating as-is, including J.H. Sissons – the aging facility which trustees were considering to close.
The board decided it needs all five schools, said vice-chairperson Heather Clarke.
"For now, this is the right decision," she said.
Trustee Jay Butler said the issue is "finally something we can put behind us," before noting how the GNWT's Department of Education, Culture and Employment had put pressure on the board to give up one of its schools, citing low enrolment within the district.
That came after a court order mandated the government to provide more space to the francophone school division, which caused the GNWT to eye Yk1's facilities.
"ECE directors went out of their way to alienate the Yk1 board," he said, adding he hopes 2015 would be more productive for Yk1.
"Hopefully, we can make up for this lost year," said Butler.
Persistent problems
Trustee Mira Hall said she shares the hope the matter can be put to rest, but has her doubts.
"This is not over," she said, "J.H. Sissons will continue to deteriorate."
Hall said the board felt a responsibility to take the issue to parents, in the form of a town hall meeting. When parents complained they didn't want to see Sissons leave the district, the board echoed that with their vote, she added. She said the general consensus at the town hall debate was that parents were willing to see programs cut, so long as the cuts didn't affect the schools their own children went to.
"A lot of parents were resentful of the process," she said.
Hall said the GNWT has been upfront with the Yk1 board that funds are running out. With limited resources and lots of demands, Hall said, the decision was tough.
"As long as schools are under-utilized we need to engage the public in a way so that it wasn't all for nothing," she said.
Trustee Terry Brookes said the biggest concern for board members was student anxiety. He said the prospect of taking students out of the schools they have studied in so far, and grouping them into new schools and classrooms would have been too traumatic on them, and that the present configuration has proven more than satisfactory for parents and students alike.
Board disputes ECE's data
Brookes pointed the finger at GNWT analysts for using outdated data in assessing present school usage. He said the actual numbers, when factoring in numbers from newly completed studies, show Yk1 is making better usage of classrooms than suggested in GNWT reports.
According to numbers from ECE, utilization of the division's schools (not including its high school) is 54 per cent; according to Yk1's figures, utilization is 61 per cent.
Brookes said the board couldn't prove a case that fewer schools would be beneficial for their children.
"The board failed to convince parents there's a better way to educate students," he said.
Board chairperson John Stephenson said it has indeed been a long process, having first appeared on his desk last December. He said throughout the process he spoke with Education Minister Jackson Lafferty. He said the minister didn't like the way Stephenson, and members of the board, were openly discussing the matter with the media. Stephenson said he told the minister that he has a different view on how board members should deal with the media, and they have a responsibility to communicate on matters of great public concern.
"I value communication to the media," he said. "If you phone me, I will answer the call."
He said board members have a much better sense of school usage, and that the Yk1 members don't agree with the department on the issue of capacity.
"They make it sound like true utilization is lower," he said.
ECE declined to comment on Yellowknifer queries, and Lafferty did not return phone calls by press time.
