The last time Fort Livingstone School had a review, it lost its senior grades. In January of this year Good Spirit School Division announced it was discontinuing Grades 9 – 12 and those students would be bussed to nearby Norquay.
It was a blow to the community of Pelly, but the angst was not over. At its October meeting, the school board once again put Fort Livingstone School under review.
Pelly now faced the prospect of losing its school altogether.
“This is always an extremely delicate process and one which the board does not undertake lightly,” stated Lois Smandych, board chair. “We sincerely appreciate the efforts of staff, parents and community members in working with us to ensure all information is shared and discussed in making difficult decisions.”
The village received an early Christmas gift, however, when, on December 21 the school division announced it was abandoning the review after in-committee discussions at its December meeting.
“Last year, the school was placed under review and, as a result of serious consideration and work with the Board and SCC, school closure was discontinued with the Grades 9 to 12 students transitioned to Norquay School,” a media release stated. “In addition, the Board included as part of their motion the fact that, if grade discontinuance instead of full closure is chosen, that no review would be conducted for up to 3 years providing student enrolment does not drop below 40 students Kindergarten to Grade 8. The current enrolment of Fort Livingstone School is 41 students and, considering this information, the Board discontinued the review process.”
Pelly mayor Sharon Nelson was thrilled, underscoring how important it is for a community to have amenities such as a school.
“It’s excellent news,” she said. “Anything we can keep is hugely beneficial to the village.”
Smandych acknowledged school reviews are not easy on anyone, but are a necessity nevertheless.
“It is of the utmost importance to ensure that our schools are consistently evaluated,” she said. “We are accountable to staff, students and community members and take our work seriously to provide the best educational programming possible in our facilities.”
