Close schools early and get it over with. That’s the common theme heard at the school closure re-configuration meetings hosted by School District, superintendent Cam Pinkerton said.
The district held two meetings about the issue on Feb. 4-5 at Alberni District Secondary School. More than 160 people in total attended the sessions, Pinkerton said.
“Adjusting to this is hard and it’s emotional for everyone, But I think people recognize that we have to do something,” Pinkerton said.
Budget issues have forced the district to begin drawing up a plan that would see three Valley schools closed and the rest re-configured to K-7 and Grades 8-12.
Three options were laid out at the public meetings that would involved closing three schools over one or three years. The three schools are Gill, Eighth Avenue and Wood Elementary Schools.
The schools were chosen in part because of declining enrolment. Gill school has 202 students presently with that number expected to dip to 190 within a decade; Wood School has 139 students and is expected to stay steady at 140; Eighth Avenue has 165 students and projected to lose another 14 before this September.
According to Pinkerton, most people at the public sessions favour the first option: closing Wood, Gill and Eighth Avenue; re-configuring the remaining schools to K-7; re-purposing Wood to be part of Alberni District Secondary School, which would be converted to Grades 8-12.
“There’s a common recognition that people don’t like closing schools but if we’re going to do it then do it right away,” he said. “It’s like ‘go big or go home.”
If SD70 trustees choose in March to go ahead with the plan that then closures and re-configuration will take place in September, Pinkerton said.
Change usually means layoffs but how many remains to be seen, Alberni District Teachers’ Union President Ken Zydyk said. “Moving away from middle schools could mean fewer teaching positions.”
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