Save Our Rural Schools

I decided to start a blog so that we can share our ideas about fighting the school divisions re. school closures. You can either post your ideas as comments or send them to me and I will post them. To start, some ideas:

The SARM convention is in Saskatoon March 13-15. On the 14th, the following sessions are on the agenda:

9.45 am - Premier Calvert's address
10.35 am - Bearpit session with the Provincial Cabinet
1.30 pm - The future of K - 12 Education - panel with the Southeast Cornerstone School Division

Two things we could do:

1. Get as many people up to Saskatoon as possible and hold a demonstration in front of the convention centre. The premier and the Cabinet members, the Sask Party opposition MLAs, will all be there. So will the media and TV cameras.

2. Talk to as many rural councillors as you know and ask them to grill the Premier and Cabinet on this issue.

Any more ideas?

To follow, for anyone who did not see it, my column which was in the Leader Post, Febrary 20th


Deciding the Future of our Schools

Christine Whitaker
Special to The Leader-Post
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
After attending the public meetings in 11 communities whose schools are currently under review, Rod Luhning, Chairman of the Prairie Valley School Division (PVSD), said that he had learned much about local communities, their efforts to develop their economies, and the successes of their schools. He also stated that the board will take all these factors into consideration before making a decision about school closures (Leader-Post, Feb 9).
Perhaps this statement was meant to reassure parents and ratepayers that their concerns have been understood, but it could also serve to lull those people into a false sense of security before the axe falls.
However, it is a disturbing admission that board members know little about the people they represent.
They took office in June 2005, and have had 20 months to learn something about the schools and communities for which they are responsible, but obviously have failed to do so.
Unfortunately, this is symptomatic of the huge jurisdictions created in recent years, whether they are school divisions or health districts. Because they each represent a large area, it is virtually impossible for board members to have more than a passing acquaintance with electors, and thus they have little knowledge of the values and aspirations of those to whom they are accountable.
They also seem to have lost sight of their raison d'etre.
Instead of focusing on the many advantages enjoyed by children who attend school within their own community, board members have become concerned exclusively with financial considerations.
In 1998, there were 12 schools in the Buffalo Plains school division, and 16 persons employed at the board office. Of these, seven were maintenance staff and nine were involved in educational and financial administration.
Currently, in the PVSD, there are 42 schools and 92 persons employed at the board office. Of these, 22 are in maintenance and transportation and 70 are superintendents, consultants and administrators. To put this into perspective, there are 3.5 times as many schools to administer, but eight times the number of managers to do the work.
It is therefore not surprising that many rural school divisions in the province are considering school closures to save money. But, before they take such drastic measures, they should be required to conduct an independent audit of their administrative operations. Each position should be evaluated in order to answer the following questions:
- What does this person do?
- How important is this work to the education of our children?
- How much unnecessary paper work does this create for the classroom teacher?
- How much does this position cost in salary, travel expenses and benefits?
- Are we getting value for money?
In the February issue of Communities at Work, Deputy Premier Clay Serby waxes eloquently about Saskatchewan as the best place to live and raise a family. He should try telling that to rural families who face annual increases in education taxes, yet cannot be sure of keeping a school in their community. There is now a very strong and widely held opinion that school board spending is out of control.
For instance, the residents of Wilcox retained their status as a consolidated school district until December 2005. They ran their school on an education tax of 13.5 mills. In January 2006 they were legislated into the large school district and their mill rate soared to 19.75 mills. One year later, they are being told that their school is not economically viable.
The PVSD has an annual budget of $80 million, just over half of which is spent on teachers' salaries and school maintenance. Surely the board members can find significant savings within the other half of their budget, rather than resorting to either school closures or education tax increases.
If the school divisions cannot get their houses in order, they may well find themselves dismantled. If that should occur, there will be no return to smaller school districts. The more likely result will be the transfer of the administration of all schools to the provincial Department of Learning, and the last vestiges of local control of education will be lost for ever. For the sake of our children and our rural communities, we cannot allow that to happen.