Provincial petition text
If you would like an official legal copy of this petition to circulate in your community, please email RealRenewal.
PETITION for GENUINE SCHOOL RENEWAL in SASKATCHEWAN
To the Honourable Assembly of Saskatchewan in Legislature assembled:
To the petition of the undersigned citizens of the Province of Saskatchewan humbly showeth:
That schools are being closed and consolidated across the province, to the detriment of students, families and communities;
That these irrevocable changes are being carried out despite increased population growth, greater societal resources, and a growing body of evidence that supports the preservation of local rural and neighbourhood schools as high quality, environmentally sound and economically efficient institutions;
That school boards have consistently placed economic factors, particularly infrastructure deficits, ahead of academic achievement and student well-being when making decisions regarding school closures;
That over-reliance on local property taxes to fund the system has resulted in school boards being unwilling or unable to press ratepayers for the financial resources they need to keep schools open;
That the school closure process has been highly inconsistent across Saskatchewan and unsatisfactory to parents and communities;
Wherefore your petitioners humbly pray that your Honourable Assembly may be pleased to cause the government to take the necessary action to:
Make a critical and substantive investment in students and their neighbourhood and rural schools, with a focus on smaller class sizes, strong community ties and equality of proximity to schools and their services.
In consultation with parent and community representatives, create Education Act regulations that provide clear and consistent research requirements, transparency requirements, performance indicators, mechanisms for public input and an appeals process that all school boards must follow when considering closure of a school.
Ensure such regulations apply equally to rural and urban schools.
End funding and taxation policies that create an economic bias in favour of school closures.
Halt further closures until such reforms are in place.
Tell your school trustees...
Our schools are needed by the growing number of families and children who live here.
They are part of our community life.
They occupy cherished, historic buildings that are vital to our neighbourhood’s character.
They attract others to our city.
They are healthy for the environment and for our kids, who can walk and bike to school.
In study after study, smaller neighbourhood schools consistently score higher in academic achievement, graduation rates, parental involvement, extracurricular involvement, school safety, financial and administrative efficiency, teacher job satisfaction, and many other areas. This is why American school districts are now desperately trying to reverse merger and closure policies of previous decades. Why make the same mistake?
Contact information:
Rhonda Parisian: rparisian@accesscomm.caDale West: kennethdwest@gmail.com
John Conway: john.conway@uregina.ca
Barb Saylor: sbsaylor@accesscomm.ca
Garry Schenher garryschenher@accesscomm.ca
Russ Marchuk: russmarchuk@sasktel.net
Dr. Barbara Young: beyoung@accesscomm.ca
Email the Minister
The province is considering Education Act reform that would include a clear process, an onus on school boards to consider alternatives, greater community involvement as decision-makers and, significantly, an appeals process. However, they have decided that only rural communities deserve these beneficial guidelines! It should be noted that in the Sask Party’s election platform, all schools were included in their reform plan, not just rural. Over the next few weeks, we will be working to ensure fairness across the board.
Education Act reform will provide the playing field we need to address the next round of school closures. Please email Minister Krawetz about the need for fairness for all.
Minister’s email: minister.edu@gov.sk.ca
CC. to the Premier: premier@gov.sk.ca
We have recommended to the Minister that he consider the Ontario guidelines for all Saskatchewan schools. If we had these guidelines, our process would have been different:
- A full review of each school, focusing on its value to students and the community, would proceed the process and be publicly available in advance.
- We would have received 6 months notice of the first public meeting, instead of one business day.
- Minutes of the public meetings would have been publicly available with a possibility to make amendments and clarifications, rather than being kept under wraps until the end.
- Relevant financial information would have been easily accessible to the public, rather than having to hound the board office over a period of weeks to get basic information.
- Most importantly, a review committee would be struck that includes members of the wider community, not just trustees.
- We would have had an appeal process.