N.J. Macpherson space not up for grabs: Yk1
Superintendent says portables are all in use
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The superintendent of the city's public school district says the idea of giving away some of its portables to alleviate capacity pressures in the Catholic school district won't work.
Yellowknife Education District No. 1 superintendent Metro Huculak said the portables at N.J. Macpherson School are all being used. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo
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"Those portables are there, they're all being used and all the classrooms are being used," Yellowknife Education District No. 1 superintendent Metro Huculak said about space at N.J. Macpherson School.
At an Oct. 19 Yellowknife Catholic school board meeting, board members raised the idea of obtaining portables from N.J. Macpherson to accommodate enrolment numbers at St. Joseph School, which is at about 90 per cent capacity, according to an October 2016 YCS facilities report.
With junior kindergarten coming in next fall, YCS is concerned about where it will house an expected increase in students at St. Joe's. The board said it plans to write Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) Minister Alfred Moses in the next month to request St. Joe's use those portables to alleviate capacity issues.
Huculak said he was surprised YCS raised the idea of sending a letter to ECE at a public meeting. He said neither he or Yk1 board members had been consulted about the portables.
"Nobody has spoken to us," Huculak said.
There are 334 students enrolled at N.J. Macpherson School for the 2016-17 school year, including pre-K, according to Huculak.
He said the school has a capacity to hold 418 students with its portable classrooms and 352 without, based on 2005 ECE standards. That would put the school at about 80 per cent of its capacity with portables, which Huculak said are all being used.
Even if there are extra spaces in classrooms at N.J. Macpherson, Huculak said it's not beneficial to student learning to fill them to the brim.
"If you look at French immersion, you want smaller class sizes because the kids are learning a new language," he said. "You can't pack 30 kids in a classroom because how's the teacher going to be efficient at teaching the second language, right? So we try to keep our class sizes smaller, especially in the primary (grades) to make sure the kids are getting a good education and the teacher can get to all the kids."
YCS superintendent Claudia Parker said Yk1 was aware of facility issues in the city, but that YCS had not specifically discussed using N.J. Macpherson's portables with the public school district.
"We were at a meeting (with ECE) before where we talked about facility issues, so the awareness was there in regards to the facility issues that we have for the future, but not in regards to potential solutions," Parker said.
The decision is up to ECE to determine whether existing portables are available for use at St. Joe's or whether new portables need to be purchased, she said.
Parker did not directly answer a question about whether YCS planned to talk to Yk1 about writing a letter to ECE about possibly obtaining portables from N.J. Macpherson.
"The letter from the board chair is basically just asking for a decision by a certain date, because if we do need to get new modulars (portables), then we need to know that by December because they need to come from probably down south," she answered.
"We'll continue to work closely with the department of education and I'm sure that they will involve Yk1 in that decision-making process and that we'll come to a decision together that works for everyone," Parker said.
She added YCS is not concerned right now about capacity at its other two schools, Weledeh and St. Pat's.
Huculak said Yk1's board chair would be raising the portables issue with YCS, adding he wants to see everyone work together to find the best solution for all GNWT students.
"We're not in any situation where we need to give up portables, because we know we need the space at N.J.," he said.
