Crossroads’ review getting underway

An accommodation review process, which will provide a recommendation for the future of Crossroads School in Devlin, is getting underway, with an initial committee meeting held last month.
This review follows that of Donald Young School in Emo, which held its accommodation review process last year, and Sturgeon Creek School in Barwick, which will determine its final recommendation at a meeting next week.

“For the past few years, the Ministry of Education has changed the definition of a ‘supported school,’ meaning that to secure additional funding, schools must now be further than 20 km apart,” Al McManaman, acting superintendent of eduction, indicated in a report to the Rainy River District School Board.
This resulted in reduced funding to operate these three schools.
“In order to make the best use of space, location, and programming for students, as well as the fact that the board faces declining enrolment, it was decided by the board that accommodation reviews would be held within the three schools,” the report added.
For the Crossroads review, the committee will consider the value of the school to the student, the community, the board, and the local economy, with the value to the student being weighted to have the most impact on the final decision.
The possibilities for the future of Crossroads are as follows:
•keep it open and continue to maintain the school;
•close it and redraw the boundary lines, with students going to Donald Young School or J.W. Walker School; or
•consolidate it with a new Donald Young School in Emo.
The accommodation review process was started by the initial Prohibitive to Repair (PTR) classification for Donald Young School by the Ministry of Education, meaning replacing the school is more economical than renovating it.
In order to access funding for a new school, an accommodation review process must have been completed.
Following the review process at DYS, it was recommended the board “build a new school on the current site of Donald Young School, with consideration given to future enrolment due to the mining industry and to consolidation with other schools.”
But the committee also suggested postponing the building of the school for three years to allow time for consideration of community partnerships, as well as to be open for a consolidation of another school, such as Sturgeon Creek and/or Crossroads.
During the accommodation review process for Crossroads, four public meetings will be held in order to give the
community an opportunity to provide feedback based on the School Information Profile.
These meetings are scheduled for Feb. 19, March 26, April 23, and May 28 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Crossroads gym.
Individuals and/or groups are invited to make public presentations or submit letters.
The submission deadline for these will be the Monday prior to the meeting to ensure inclusion with the agenda package.
Parent rep Krista Kellar was elected chair of the Accommodation Review Committee.
Also included on the committee is one trustee, the Director of Education/designate, principal or vice-principal, one teacher, two school council members, and one community rep.
“I’m going to have kids going to this school for a while,” Kellar explained as to why she stepped forward.
“I want to ensure the school’s interest is protected.”
Kellar hopes the community will offer its support.
“I hope people show up and get involved,” she stressed. “It’s easy to sit back and hope other people will offer their input, but we want people to come forward with whatever their opinion is.”
Kellar added they are there to represent the community, not to push their own opinions.
“If you can’t attend the meetings, there are still ways to show some initiative, such as submitting a letter or e-mail,” she noted.
“No decision has been made yet,” Kellar reassured.
“This is our opportunity to put all our cards on the table and point the future of Crossroads in the right direction,” she remarked.
More information about the accommodation review process can be found on the school board’s website.