Advice on school closings ignored: report

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2016 (2823 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For almost eight years, the former NDP government ignored a process civil servants developed to allow the closing of small schools.

Internal government documents show the former government refused to implement a plan that would have let school divisions and communities close schools following the moratorium imposed in 2008.

“In September 2008 and March 2012, Education Department officials provided the previous government with post-moratorium proposals for low-enrolment schools. According to the department, once the proposals were sent to the ministerial level, no further direction was provided, and no further action was taken,” staff for Education Minister Ian Wishart confirmed.

There were 13 small schools with dwindling enrolment scheduled to be closed by June 2009. The province unexpectedly brought down the moratorium in April 2008.

The NDP’s decision included a directive that divisions find other uses for empty space in small schools, such as a daycare or seniors programs. The NDP believed schools were the focal point of rural communities. It also feared a backlash, especially in Winnipeg.

Documents show the NDP ignored its own officials by maintaining the moratorium without adopting ways in which it could be appealed.

Says an internal report: “At the time of the establishment of Bill 28, it was recommended that the moratorium remain in place, at least until such time as a regulation defining a process for school closures comes into effect.

“The department developed a plan for a proposed consultation process that supports the development of a school-closure regulation; however, neither the process nor the regulation was ever put in place.”

Schools could be closed when the NDP governed, but only under exceptional circumstances, such as two schools consolidating into a single building.

Schools could also close if parents essentially voted with their feet and moved their children into another, larger school, leaving the building empty.

Chapman School closed June 30 when the remaining families all moved to Royal School.

‘The department developed a plan for a proposed consultation process that supports the development of a school closure regulation; however, neither the process nor the regulation was ever put in place’– internal report on the NDP’s moratorium on school closures

Kenton, Graysville and Reynolds Community School in Prawda closed the same way in the last few years.

Wishart’s staff said he “is meeting with school divisions over the summer and looks forward to collaborative discussions. We are not considering changes to Bill 28 at this time. Any applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”

However, Wishart said recently that when he reviews the province’s capital spending on new and renovated schools, the moratorium will probably be up for discussion.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca