Chapman School to close after parents ask for transfers

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This article was published 28/04/2016 (2917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All 31 families at Chapman School have taken the extraordinary step of effectively closing the tiny Charleswood school by asking to have their kids transferred.

The 73-year-old kindergarten-to-Grade 6 school at 3707 Roblin Blvd. had 146 students in 2000, but this year has only 51 kids — by far the smallest public school in Winnipeg.

“It was instigated by the parent council,” Pembina Trails School Division superintendent Ted Fransen said in an interview.

“The parents of Chapman School have signed a letter, all 31 families, asking that the board agree a small number of supports be put in place to allow the children to register in September at Royal School, effectively leaving the enrolment at Chapman at zero,” said Fransen.

Fransen said Pembina Trails will ask the provincial Department of Education to approve the formal closing of Chapman School.

A department official said Friday it is premature for the province to comment. The new Conservative education minister will be sworn in Tuesday.

Eight years ago, Chapman was among 13 schools across Manitoba slated to be closed within two years, when the NDP government suddenly in spring 2008 imposed a moratorium on closing small schools.

Since then, only two schools have closed, both of them because parents voted with their feet and moved their children to larger schools. Students at Graysville School all went into Carman, and Reynolds Community School in Prawda saw all its kids go to Whitemouth or Falcon Beach.

The incoming Conservative government of premier-designate Brian Pallister has not taken a public position on the moratorium.

Fransen said the parents asked for some busing to Royal School and for Royal’s catchment area to encompass Chapman’s so the Chapman kids would be guaranteed to stay together. Royal is at 450 Laxdal Rd. on a corner with Grant Avenue, 1.9 kilometres away from Chapman.

Fransen noted the division will continue its commitment to Chapman’s privately run daycare, which includes children from Chapman and other schools. Trustees have yet to consider the future of the school and property, which has “a beautiful gym,” he said.

The school was built in 1943 when construction workers and building materials were in scarce supply during wartime.

Pembina Trails has known since 2011 the original 1943 boiler in the older portion of Chapman School could die at any time.

The division has had an emergency plan to move the students and teachers to Royal School immediately should the boiler suddenly expire in winter. The newer portion of Chapman is structurally sound, and its boiler is in good condition.

The public schools finance board told the division in 2011 it is too costly to fix the boiler when it dies and too costly to fix other major structural problems in the older section of the school.

The original portion of the school was built on a concrete slab, which is shifting and leaning in several spots, Pembina Trails has reported in recent years.

The 1943 portion contains six classrooms, including four on a lower level being used by a daycare.

The newer portion, built in 1974, includes four classrooms, the gym, the office and the library.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca