Catholic schools nearing capacity
City superintendents talk capital concerns with education department deputy minister
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, December 11, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The superintendents of the city's two main school districts have been underlining their capital concerns during talks with the education department's newest deputy minister David Stewart - a man they say has proven more than willing to meet to talk things out.
Janet Toner, assistant superintendent for Yellowknife Catholic Schools, said district staff are buoyed by Stewart, who took the post Aug. 1, because he seems willing to meet and talk about concerns, which for Yellowknife Catholic Schools revolve around capacity issues.
Toner said the district is over the 80 per cent threshold at which point conversations with the department about solutions are supposed to begin. She said YCS staff have been in talks with ECE about the capacity issue since last year, and an early solution was to move Grade 8 populations from St. Joseph School and Weledeh School into a wing connecting the latter school with St. Patrick High School. Toner said the district's total enrolment is more than 1,300 right now, with total capacity in all three schools being 1,657.
"That's an indication we should be talking with ECE about space requirements," said Toner. "We are at 1,300; add our Dettah kids onto that, that's 16 (more). And within our schools we have our preschool program which parents pay for (and are not counted as part of the 1,300)."
Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) has around 1,960 students when they add pre-kindergarten and other students to their full-time equivalency (FTE) numbers - the number ECE uses in calculating funding. The public district schools have a capacity of 2,862 students and are filling around 69 per cent of that capacity this year, although Sir John Franklin High School, N.J. Macpherson School and J.H. Sissons School are all higher than 80 per cent.
William McDonald School continues to be the least populated school in the district at 37 per cent.
Toner said the Catholic district anticipates its population will hover between 80 and 85 per cent in the coming year. Last year it had around 30 more students enrolled than it did in 2010 but the district has seen a slight dip in enrolment this year, down about 25 students.
If the new MLAs decide to implement junior kindergarten - which was put on hold last year, pending review - Toner said that would cause an influx of children that would swell the district's numbers.
"If that's the case, then we will have an inflow of students into the schools," she said. "That will change the numbers."
When she brought up these capacity concerns in a meeting with Stewart in November, she said the deputy minister heard what she had to say and said he'd try to provide a response at another meeting. Toner said the district hasn't had conversations about sharing space with Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) - an option that's been used in the past - but she expected the matter to come up when she and YCS superintendent Claudia Parker meet with ECE staff in the near future.
Not to be outdone rubbing elbows with the new deputy minister, Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak said he had his own meeting with Stewart last month.
Huculak said he asked when the districts will lay their eyes on the much-anticipated junior kindergarten review - which was supposed to be finished in summer and presented to the legislative assembly before the election.
"(Stewart) told me he'd look into it," said Huculak.
Much-overdue renovations at J.H. Sissons School and at Mildred Hall School might be in the future, he added.
"They're on the capital plan," he said.
Mildred Hall School is slated for some renovations and the district's oldest building - J.H. Sissons School - is slated for a "mid-life retrofit," according to the plan, which also includes a new sewer pipe for Sir John Franklin High School.
Yellowknifer couldn't determine the costs associated with these projects by press time.
In September, Huculak told Yellowknifer J.H. Sissons School needs to be shut for for about a year-and-a-half to carry out the necessary work.
Like Toner, Huculak said he likes Stewart's style, because he's willing to meet and chat.
"This one is quite open to meeting," he said.
Stewart was not available for an interview before press time.
"With the transition in government, there are no media requests being taken that talk about upcoming commitments," stated Tami Johnson, spokesperson for ECE, in an e-mail to Yellowknifer.
