Manitoba stops school closures while Sask steams ahead
For immediate release May 15, 2008
As Manitoba moves to halt school closures, Saskatchewan parents are watching developments next door with interest. “If Manitoba can stop school closures, why not Saskatchewan?” asked Trish Elliott of RealRenewal, a Regina lobby group concerned with school issues.
Yesterday Saskatchewan gained final assent for Education Act changes that were criticized by rural lobby groups as too weak, while urban schools were excluded entirely. In contrast, Manitoba’s Bill 28 includes a moratorium on all scheduled closures and places more stringent guidelines on decision-making.
According to the proposed Strengthening Local Schools Act, a school board can close a school only if it demonstrates “that there is a consensus among the affected parents and residents that the school be closed.”
“The bill places community consensus at the centre of decision-making. It’s an idea Saskatchewan people would truly benefit from,” said Elliott.
Victoria Schindle is chairperson of the Argyle Community Action Group, one of the organizations that made a presentation to the Manitoba minister of education’s office about threatened closures.
“Our community group compiled research from all over North America and we realized that for our communities to survive, it was vital that our school stay open,” said Schindle.
Elliott noted the bill provides additional support and protection to schools in low income neighbourhoods. There will also be safeguards for schools struggling with low enrolment or seeking to implement new community programming.
"This is a much more flexible, realistic approach. Here we’ve had schools forced to live up to the same blanket numbers on a spread sheet, rather than paying attention to the special circumstances, resources and goals of each community,” said Elliott. “With population growth and a little new capital coming into the system, we should start broadening our perspective.”
Of interest to rural parents, the Manitoba bill proposes a one-hour limit on bus travel time, and appears to accept low enrolment schools as an opportunity for community action rather than a death sentence.
The initiative for the creation of Bill 28 came from the office of Peter Bjornson, the Minister of Education in the current NDP government. It was intended as a response to declining enrolment and new thinking about the role of schools in communities. Bjornson has stated that retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008 no further closures will be allowed while the bill is under discussion.
Input from several citizens’ groups helped shape the bill, said Schindle. “We were concerned about our school division pursuing a review policy that had no consideration for our children’s well-being, their education or the interactive relationship between school and community. The involvement of community in education gives our students a confidence to excel that they would not feel in a distant school.”
Schindle said it appears the concerns of parents and community groups were taken into account, although they are still carefully reviewing the bill. Schindle is calling on all communities and parent advisory councils to examine the document and offer suggestions to the minister’s office.
“This is a good opportunity to make a difference. Our children’s education, their local schools, and the sustainability of communities are topics we will not compromise on,” she said.
The bill follows passage of similarly-motivated legislation in Ontario. In December, Ontario passed regulations demanding great transparency and community involvement in decision-making, including a requirement to place student and community needs ahead of purely economic factors.
“There are of course areas for improvement in Manitoba’s bill, such as defining an appeals process, but overall Manitoba seems to be moving in a positive direction,” said Elliott. “This shows strong provincial legislation and immediate action are not impossible. Saskatchewan communities should accept nothing less.”
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