There were tears and the sad laughter of acceptance from representatives of the community of Major the evening of Wednesday, April 24 as the motion to close their school was made and passed at a meeting of the board of Living Sky School Division.They were able to leave, however, with the knowledge that their school would have one more year to operate, during which they will be able to celebrate Major's centennial. The closure date has been set for July 1, 2014."It's probably the hardest decision we've ever made as a board," said Chairman Ken Arsenault.In coming to the terms of the closure, board members agreed with Arsenault that one more year would allow parents and students to prepare for the change and for teachers to look for other positions. It would also allow the community a final year to celebrate their school.Input from Major residents attending the meeting indicated the community would support that option, even though their fondest hope had been for the review to be ended.The Major School Review Committee chairperson, Charlene Patton, told the board even parents like herself, with children going from Grade 9 into Grade 10, would support letting their children start high school at Major, even though they will have to finish it somewhere else. Parent and principal Paula Ross agreed, saying because their Grade 9 students are in a Grade 9/10 split class, they are already familiar with high school level work.The motion to close the school was "the motion no one wants to make," said Arsenault, so he took it upon himself. Voting in favour of closure were Bob Foreman, Kim Gartner, Todd Miller, Ron Kowalchuk, Ronna Pethick, Glenn Wouters (by telephone) and Arsenault. Voting against was Major School's representative on the board, Jack Snell. Absent were Richard Hiebert and Garth Link, however Link had made it known at the previous meeting that he did not support closing the school.Snell made one last plea for ending the school closure review process, which would leave the 49-student school open, at least for now. He pointed out the fact that some students will be on the bus for up to two and a half hours extra daily to attend other schools.Several board members acknowledged the extra time students will spend on the bus, but that long commutes are a reality in rural Saskatchewan. At a time when the division is faced with increasingly tight budgets, now that the provincial government no longer allows them to levy taxes locally, board members said they don't have the extra dollars needed to keep Major School open.Most board members also said they didn't feel making the school a K-8 school was a viable option either, since the school does require repairs.Closing the school, said Arsenault, is by no means a reflection on the community of Major. Referring to the 2009 decision to let the school stay open another three years before being reviewed again, Arsenault said the board had hoped the community's belief that they would see an increase in population would come to fruition. Unfortunately, it has not, he said.At 49 students, Major is below the 88-student minimum mandated by the province, as Arsenault indicated at the previous meeting. He also said Major also has a higher pupil-teacher ratio, at seven students to one teacher, than the division average which is about 14.25, making the cost per student higher.Next, the division will work with the school, parents and the community on determining where the students of Major will attend school after the closure. Luseland and Kerrobert will probably be the main receiving schools, however the board expressed their willingness to do whatever they can, even changing school boundaries if necessary, to help parents and students find their best solutions. They also accepted that some students may want to attend school in another division, or even across the border in Alberta."Major students are still our students," said Arsenault, "and we want the best for them."
