Needed upgrades to Gibsons Elementary School may not be possible. Schools across the Sunshine Coast have a declining enrolment of about 100 children per year, and the province is giving out less money. The question is: are there any realistic solutions to these problems?
On Wednesday night at the school, parents, caregivers, community members, teachers and administrators gathered to continue a dialogue School District No. 46 (SD46) started last November. The next step of the process (three two-hour presentations and question/answer periods) is what SD46 superintendent Deborah Palmer calls a piece in the next part of a conversation that needs to take place across the district during the next year so intelligent, well-thought out and reasonable decisions can be made. Palmer and vice-superintendent Tom Hierck were frank in telling the community that no decisions have yet been made. According to the SD46 administrators, there are no done deals. What there is at this point is information gathered from the November conference, the information being gathered from the three discussion groups (forums were also held in Pender Harbour and Sechelt this week), feedback forms and the realities faced by SD46. Based on the information to date and a vision for students in the future, SD46 has come up with what they think is a viable proposal that they shared with the community at the forums.
Hierck said the proposal focuses on students across the Coast and what will work without shutting schools down, significantly more teacher layoffs (12 teachers are facing layoffs this year) and better usage of current physical and human resources across the district.
The district is proposing a reshuffling of elementary school students and the creation of two middle schools. This will mean that elementary aged students will be spread over each family school area (Pender Harbour, Sechelt, Elphinstone and the corresponding schools). The main reason for creating two middle schools are the benefits to the student population. Hierck said what they know is that kids transitioning between Grade 9 into high school drop in their achievement levels, and it is one of the toughest transition phases for that age group of kids. According to SD46, in 2006/07, 90 per cent of non-aboriginal students met graduating requirements compared to only 68 per cent of aboriginal students. Hierck said that means that out of every 500 First Nations students, 150 didn't graduate, and he and Palmer said these numbers are unacceptable.
No changes will happen before the 2009/2010 school year. What those changes end up being will be determined through the year-long process involving all the different stakeholders.
For more information, go to the SD46's website at www.sd46.bc.ca to see the proposal.
