Within three days, the community of Pangman went from "celebration to devastation" after learning that their school was placed under intent for review of either closure or discontinuance of grades by the Southeast Cornerstone School Division.
Within three days, the community of Pangman went from "celebration to devastation" after learning that their school was placed under intent for review of either closure or discontinuance of grades by the Southeast Cornerstone School Division.
Elwood White, chair of the School Community Council for Pangman, explained the rollercoaster ride for the community. "We just recently opened a daycare on Friday, we are having a celebration, and then on Monday we get a phone call that they are going to review our school."
"It is upsetting especially since the SCC is working extremely hard to educate our children. We are upset that it was Cornerstone's board that approved the development of the daycare, and that on Aug. 19 of last year the board made a motion to demolish a portion of the school and bring in a new portion," said Elwood. "We finally have the necessary infrastructure to expand our community, and three days later we are told that the school is slated for review."
"The government puts money into a building and complex on that grounds, plus the town gives them the property to build the daycare kitchen onto, and then the school board says it will save money by shutting it down," said Brian Jesse, head for Pangman Charity Farms and a member of the daycare board.
The board of education for the Southeast Cornerstone School Division passed a motion of intent to review the potential discontinuance of one or more grades or potential closure of Pangman School. Trustees met during a special meeting at the division office on Sept. 26.
"This is part of our annual work plan, where the director of education gives the board monitoring reports, and at this time of year we monitor schools that have low enrollment numbers," said Carol Flynn, board chair for Cornerstone. "The concern for Pangman School is they are at an enrollment of 65 for a Kindergarten to Grade 12 school, and the Ministry of Education requires an enrollment of 88 for that type of school."
Flynn also noted that the projection enrollment at Pangman School has them remaining at 65 for the next couple of years, which is also a concern. Two other schools that were also brought to the attention of the board were a Kindergarten to Grade 9 in Wapella that has 48 enrolled, and the Ministry numbers are 58; and a Kindergarten to Grade 8 in Macoun that has 48 enrolled, and the Ministry numbers are 51. Both of these schools showed enrollment projections that would meet the Ministry requirements.
"Our enrollment would be over the 100 mark but Cornerstone has taken the opportunity to allow families in Pangman's boundaries to attend other schools of their choice, those being Radville, Yellow Grass and Weyburn," said Rod Rowland, Mayor of Pangman. "If blame is put on anybody for lower enrollment numbers, Cornerstone would be the sole proprietor. To lose our school would be devastating to our community."
"How do you attract kids to a small community when your school is under review? The timing is horrible," said Joy White, representative of the daycare. "Pangman School has the same amount of numbers this year as last year, so why weren't we placed under review last year? To do it after the grand opening of the daycare, after we worked extremely hard on establishing it, is very upsetting."
"It is a complete waste of taxpayers dollars to put $850,000 into the daycare, especially if they were thinking of closing us," added Elwood. "Why didn't the director of education give us any indication, or guidelines? We were blindsided."
Under the current legislation a School Review Committee must be established. This committee will be comprised of up to four members of the current School Community Council, two members of the village council, and two representatives of the council of municipalities in the school division.
"This doesn't mean closure or grade discontinuance for certain at Pangman School," explained Flynn. "We are going to work through this process with the School Review Committee, who will research the situation further with the community and bring back all necessary information to the board."
It will be this committee's responsibility to acquaint itself with the board of education's school review process including the criteria being used for the school review and the data that will be used to evaluate the school against the review criteria. They will also describe the impact that all potential outcomes of the school review process will have on the students and the broader community.
The school review committee will share the information provided by the board of education with the community and ask for written feedback from the community. They will also share the written feedback received from the community and the school review committee's recommendations with the board.
One of the concerns addressed by Elwood White is the fact that the teachers were told they couldn't discuss it. "I went to the school after we received word on the review, and looking at the teachers you could see that they cried all night, but they can't discuss it because the school division threatened them with insubordination. This affects the delivery of education; it is affecting our students education right now."
The information and data collected by the School Review Committee and the director of education for Cornerstone will be considered by the board of education by Feb. 1, 2012. All final decisions on school closure, or grade discontinuation, must be made by April 30.
