Parents of students at Bridge Lake Elementary School and members of the area communities were obviously disappointed when School District #27 (SD 27) trustees voted unanimously to close the school at the April 26 board meeting.
The Bridge Lake group attended two school board meetings, including the April 19 meeting when the trustees gave first and second reading to close BLES.
For the group, the closure decision capped off a long, frustrating process with the school district administrators and trustees.
BLES Parents Advisory Committee (PAC) chair Piri de Vries says she is extremely disappointed the board didn’t defer the decision to close the school for a year, so there could be further consultation and so the PAC could prove there would be more children attending the school next September.
“I’m very disappointed in the way the board led the process. School boards do have the power to decide, but with that, comes the responsibility for a fair process.
“The management issue at the school has not been dealt with and now our children have to suffer with the transition to another school and will spend two hours and 35 minutes daily to go to the school.
“Is that fair?”
Even before the school trustees made their final decision for the school closure, complaints had been filed with the Office of the Ombudsperson.
A parent (risk for children due to transportation issues), the PAC (management issues at the school and SD 27), and the Community Steering Committee (non-compliance with board’s own policies, Ministry orders and the School Act) have been filed.
Bridge Lake residents are hoping the Ombudsperson will investigate all three complaints.
