Heather Latter
The Rainy River District School Board is concerned about the possible merger of the local board with that of one nearby, such as Keewatin-Patricia, as the Ontario government considers amalgamating school boards as a cost-saving measure.
“The proposed amalgamation of school boards is a short-sighted action that will negate many of the gains in student achievement and parental involvement upon which this government prides itself,” argued RRDSB chair Michael Lewis.
He indicated Northern Ontario boards will be easy targets due to lower population numbers and declining enrolment.
The ministry is counting on $10 million in savings for 2013-14, and another $17 million the year after that, by eliminating “back-office expenses” and other administrative efficiencies.
RRDSB trustee David Kircher noted the timeline for the amalgamation process has accelerated, with the ministry holding consultations with stakeholders throughout the summer months.
He noted they should know “what and who” will be amalgamated by January, with implementation to take place in time for the 2013-14 school year.
“It is disconcerting,” Kircher stressed. “Trustees will become less accessible to parents [and] staff.
“And all the programs the board has invested in would not quite be delivered in the same way,” he warned.
Lewis said the RRDSB offers a sophisticated “Reading Recovery” program and speech language program in all its schools while the Keewatin-Patricia board offers its speech language program in a different manner.
He added specialized events and programs unique to the local board will be in jeopardy, such as the Young Women’s Conference, as well as the work on local cultures and history undertaken with Rainy River First Nations.
“There would be competing priorities from the Keewatin-Patricia board, which could result in the loss of the [RRDSB] programs,” Lewis said.
“School boards that serve diverse cultures and communities, such as Rainy River and Keewatin-Patricia, formulate their program responses to those diversities in different formats,” he explained.
Lewis stressed an amalgamation would take away the focus on student achievement because the boards would be consumed with system level integration of policies, procedures, collective agreements, and organizational cultures.
“A forced amalgamation will create a shift in focus away from student achievement and well-being, and the learning agenda, as well as negatively impacting the implementation of key programs focused on bullying prevention, safe schools, mental health, and staff training,” he warned.
Amalgamation also would negatively impact parent and community engagement, he added.
“Alienation occurs when the board is geographically far removed from the communities it is supposed to serve,” said Lewis, citing there would be a loss of connection among communities and between the board and communities.
“In any amalgamation of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ areas, the needs and the priorities of the ‘urban’ areas tend to take precedence,” he remarked.
Trustee Earl Klyne added First Nations’ representatives “are not accepting [amalgamation] as an acceptable option.”
He indicated they would be approaching the education minister on the subject.
Kircher also said the cost savings associated with amalgamation are only short-term and would disappear after two-three years, especially when more middle management personal would be needed to serve the wider and more diverse geographical area.
And due to the large geographical area in Northwestern Ontario, both Lewis and Kircher expressed concerns about travelling and staying connected.
“You can’t stayed connected through technology,” Kircher stressed, citing it is not reliable, especially due to the limited coverage of broadband width here.
“And it is not the same as being there person-to-person.”
“There are significant costs associated with travel for staff training, for school support, for meetings with community partners, staff, and parents,” said Lewis.
“There will also be further emphasis on the negative impacts of community disengagement and loss of confidence and support for public education, as parents and communities become more distant and less connected to the board,” he added
“That loss of contact at all levels wouldn’t do anything for student achievement,” agreed Kircher.
Lewis noted the idea of amalgamating school boards within the province is not new.
In 1997, in fact, he was the director of eduction for both the North Shore Board of Eduction and the Espanola Board of Education.
And he sat on both the Local Education Improvement Committees as the Algoma District School Board and the Rainbow District School Board were created through forced amalgamation.
“The process was long and arduous, and was unsettling for board employees, parents, and communities,” he recalled.
“It has been 15 years since the amalgamations took place and the disservice done to smaller communities that were not part of the northern urban areas has not yet fully abated,” he said.
Kircher, meanwhile, referred to a study done in Michigan entitled “School District Consolidation, Size and Spending: an Evaluation,” which concludes the most cost-effective size for school districts in Michigan is roughly 2,900 students.
“Both smaller and larger districts are likely to spend more per pupil,” it reads.
With the RRDSB’s enrolment being about 2,400, Kircher feels the board is nearly the “perfect size” and so is not in favour of amalgamation with another board.
He even suggested perhaps the ministry should consider looking at savings by making the larger school boards in southern Ontario smaller.
“We just want to ensure that the improvements and student achievement we have seen are not jeopardized through amalgamation,” Kircher stressed.
