A frustrated delegation from Gronlid Central came to the North East School Division’s board, feeling efforts to make their school more viable – including a daycare proposal – have been ignored.
“It’s not hard to have people commit to the community and commit to having the kids in our school,” Greg Cochran, the vice-chair of the Gronlid Central School Community Council, told the board at their Jan. 23 meeting. “What is hard is to keep that commitment when people see decisions continuing to be made that don’t show a commitment to the school and to the community from the school division.”
Gronlid Central was one of two schools put under a review last year due to its low student population. The result of the review saw the school become a K to 8 school instead of a K to 12.
High among Cochran’s concerns was the school division’s decision to not lease space in the school for a daycare.
“For parents in rural areas, one of the main reasons they end up taking their kids into town is because we have two working parents now, mom has to go to Melfort, Nipawin or Tisdale, what do you do with the kids before school and after school? You need daycare,” he said. “Having that in our school does improve the viability of our school overall and our community.”
The division rejected the proposal in part because funding wasn’t secured from the Early Learning and Child Care branch. Cochran said the division knew that for months before they turned the proposal down, but they weren’t told to stop their efforts.
Cochran told the division he wants them to reopen discussion on the subject. Luke Perkins, the division's chair, said the board hasn’t discussed the issue as this was the first meeting since the decision was made.
The school community council vice-chair said he’d also like the division to reexamine the school’s catchment area so that those just outside the boundary wanting to go to the school can be transported. He was also concerned that Grade 7s and 8s weren’t seeing extra supports despite reassurances that they would if grades were discontinued.
Perkins acknowledged the frustration of the school community council and said action would be taken to improve communication.
“I think it starts with me attending their SCC meeting [on Jan. 24], that and doing an open-end dialogue,” he said. “That’s where we start: getting back to dialogue.”
The division chair said those conversations will be hard to have.
“Everybody’s passionate about their schools. It’s good to have these conversations open and honest.”
