DISCOVERY PASSAGE SCHOOL CLOSU RE CONSULTATION PROCESS Late Submissions CONSULTATION INDEX DATE DESCRIPTION 03-05-2016 Claire Metcalfe 03-01-2016 Curtis and Amanda Smith i Lee-Ann Kruse From: Claire Metcalfe <[email protected]> Sent: March-OS-16 9:09 AM To: facilities plan; Susan Wilson; Ted Foster; Richard Franklin; Daryl Hagen; John Kerr; Gail Kirschner; Joyce McMann Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject Fwd: SD72 School Closures Trolly kids All of the students in our district are standing on the train tracks and there is an out of control trolly headed for them all. Do we toss a few in the way (the elementary school kids who will also be tossed again when it comes to rebuilding the high school) to prevent them from all being hurt? Or do we ask no one to budge and see who survives? This is a morality question that has been presented to the trustees before, and I believe at a very appropriate time. Lers do something different. Pick an answer that isn't already proposed. I propose that we ask them to all step away from the tracks and let the train (Christy Clark) go along on it's merry way. I know the solution is not that simple. There has to be another way of building new schools in our district and supporting our childrens education other than following the paths that other districts are, just because it is what we are supposed to. Our district staff and trustees are smart, creative leaders of our community, and I would like for them to come up with another way to go about this. Still staying within the regulations set forth by the province but coming up with a solution that use preventative solutions instead of the reactive ones the Liberal government wants to force on us. I am not an expert and I don't think any of the parents that you are asking for advice are either. I think that most parents ( as you could see from the turn out at the last meetings) feel that these schools will close. We feel that this process is the mandatory job posting when the employer already has someone picked for the job. Schools across our province are being closed everywhere. Is it solving the problem? Maybe. We are keeping the machine running, at a better efficacy. Just like Walmart. Are we looking at the quality of the product? No, if you look at the number of kids who drop out, and the number that continue on to post secondary education, I don't believe you are. Students now can graduate with credits. Does not mean they can add, though. Talk to any business owner in this town and most of our products doesn't even know how to handle the penny conversion. Nor do they understand that a job is a commitment. I think we should want the majority to graduate. Even better, for our high school graduates to move on to college, and university to become innovators and creative thinkers. To become people who will help turn our town back into somewhere people desire to live, work and raise their families The mills are gone. The logging companies that reinvest in communities are gone. Walmart is not going to save us. These children are our future. In your financial statements you show a continued growth of cash assets. In 2008 SD72's cash assets total $12,048,367 and have grown to $18,238,760 in 2015. I understand that you are operating in a deficit budget but that is your budget. You show a surplus in all of the previous 8 years except for one. In 2010 you had an actual deficit of $-1 ,242,701. All the other years are surplus 2008 =$1,457,040 2009 =$308,502 2011 =$844,216 2012 =$495,660 2013 = $736,728 2014 = $1,108,595 2015 = $723,395 This shows you are good at working within your budget and for that I do applaud you. But I believe you can do better with the quality of our children's education. When will this be reinvested in quality education? \ 1 I am not fighting the closure of Discovery Passage because my children will be there forever. My youngest will be entering grade 5 in this up coming year. Whatever school they attend, I believe they will be fine. They have support from home and that means the most. They have also had a nurturing and supportive experience in elementary that has encouraged them to be lifetime learners. I am fighting for all the children in Campbell River, now and for the future children who deserve the same opportunity. I am fighting for them to have a small school in their community, hopefully on this side of the bridge. There are studies showing that the best size for an elementary school is 150 students. 25 per class. BC education is following the United States and I don't know why. We are also following them many years behind and not learning from their mistakes. Many states are now realizing that the decline in student achievement is due to overcrowded, over sized schools. If you truly have not made up your mind and you are open to options, please take a few minutes read the following links, look inside yourselves and answer the following questions. https:llwww.edb.utexas.edu/hsns/HSNSbrief1.pdf http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG05-05Hylden.pdf How important is school size? I GreatKids 1. Why not change boundaries? You say that changing school boundaries will not address our enrollment issues but has anyone spoken to the parents in Campbellton? When their school was closed, they were promised a bus. They had it for one year and have been fighting to get it back ever since. Their walk to Ripple Rock is not a safe one. If the boundaries were to change to include them (as the bus drives through Campbellton to get to Discovery Passage anyways), I am quite sure they would happily come to Discovery Passage. 2. Why not Close larger schools. The results of several recent studies indicate that small schools may be the remedy for lots of what is wrong with public education. Small schools can reduce the negative effects of poverty, reduce violence, and increase parent involvement and student accountability. Are these not some of the problems that cedar students face? With the implementation of the new curriculum will you not be looking for community involvement? I volunteer a lot in our school in part because it is small. I do not have the training, funds, supplies nor is there the space for me to volunteer teaching in a larger school. Campbell River has an enrollment capacity of 2807 elementary students and we currently are at 2127 students. That leaves 680 empty spaces. Closing Discovery Passage and Oyster River alone is not going to solve the problem. You will be closing at least one more school if you want to follow the liberals agenda to get the funding you say you want to re build Cedar. Which school will it be? Almost all the schools are aged and in need of serious repair or rebuild. If you close Cedar and Sandowne it brings you closer to your goal of capacity. Close the school board office and relocate to a school. These 3 properties are in an area where they would sell the fastest and for the most money. Then reconfigure all the boundaries so students attend the closest school to their home (I am not saying send Cedar students across town to another school) and you should be closer to capacity. Invest the savings back into all schools. If they are full and properly renovated to be efficient, the investment will be worth it. Children and parents in this district deserve a choice of large or small school to attend. By closing both of the small schools in our district, you are robbing us of this choice. 3. Invest in an opportunity with equipment you already have. Discovery Passage School is in need of repairs that are almost the same cost as a complete rebuild. Could the school be torn down, the property subdivided into 2 portions? If we have portables that are used against the classroom numbers, why not install them at Disco Passage and 2 create a smaller, more efficient school that can withstand an earthquake? We have our children in a small school for a reason and I think our district should offer at least one small school as an option for parents. 4. Marketing Schools that provide before and after school care and preschools are desired schools. There was a non-profit, non-secretarial, pre school in town, Humpty Dumpty Nursery School that was started in 1973. For the last 8 years that it was open, it needed to get into a different space. They tried every year to get a space in any of the schools in the district and they were told no every year. Sadly they are now closed. There was another that tried to get into Discovery Passage, Apples and Pears. Why are you turning away appropriate revenue? Does the board know how many user groups are turned away every year? Yes, an empty classroom counts against us to the province but what if we could have a revenue stream that was enough for us to not need to rely so heavily on their decisions? Thank you for your time, and consideration, Claire Metcalfe Parent, PAC member and volunteer at Discovery Passage Elementary School 3 From: Curtis Smith-Coastal Wilderness Adventures [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2016 9:30 PM To: Susan Wilson; Ted Foster; Richard Franldin; Daryl Hagen; John Kerr; Gail Kirschner; Joyce McMann Cc: [email protected]; Amanda Smith; [email protected] [email protected] Subject: Discovery Passage Trustees, I was too upset to speak at tonight's meeting after reading the responses to our previous meeting's questions, that were only sent to us a few hours before tonight's meeting.