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Six rural schools could be on chopping block

Sep 21, 2011 | 6:27 AM

Six towns east of Prince Albert could be losing their schools next year.

The North East School Division (NESD) has six schools up for review – Arborfield School, Bjorkdale School, Zenon Park School, Star City School, Gronlid School and White Fox School.

There are five criteria the Ministry of Education has that resulted in a review, said Don Rempel, NESD director of education.

They include school enrolment, projection of triple grading, projected enrolment of having only one student in a grade, projected enrolment of having more than triple grading and the structural integrity of the school, he said.

Discussions have been going on for more than a year with some of the school community councils. A decision will be made next month at the division’s board meeting as to whether there will be a formal review of the schools – it means some could close at the end of the school year.

It’s an issue that Heidi Schellenberg is concerned about. She is the mother of Grade 3 and Grade 1 students at Gronlid School.

“I guess our biggest concern if they start the review process, eventually the whole school will be shut down,” she said.

It’s been a hot button topic in the hamlet.

“I think they are just concerned because there are a lot of kids in this area … The school is kind of what keeps the town going, so if the school closes it takes a toll on the whole town even if you don’t have kids in the school,” she said.

The enrolment of the school is about 86 students – there are only about 100 people living in Gronlid. Most of the students are rural.

The next closed school is in Melfort — it’s about an extra half an hour away for the Shellenbergs. With both her children taking the bus, it means they would likely have to board before 8 a.m. each day.

“We are kind of the last town before Fort a la Corne and then, you know, the other way is Nipawin and Tisdale area,” she said, adding they are not even the furthest family.

Rempel said there are still a lot of steps before any school would be closed.

If the board decides to do a formal review, a committee needs to be set up including four community council members, a board member and an elected member of the community. From there a community based liability committee needs to be established by Nov. 1 and report back by the end of January. A decision has to be made on the report by the end of April. That would be the earliest the schools would know their fate.

There are still some considerations to be made. There can’t be more than 40 kilometres between kindergarten to Grade 8 schools, he said, and 90 per cent of students can’t have more than a 90 minute bus ride.

For now, Schellenberg would just like to know what to expect and what her next step is.

“It would just be nice to know what’s going to happen and if we have any options,” she said, adding there is a meeting tonight to find our more.

“My understanding is we can’t do a whole lot about it, we can’t make Gronlid grow and faster than it is,” she said.

klavoie@panow.com