Heather Latter
The Accommodation Review Committee for Crossroads School in Devlin will determine its recommendation for the future of the school at a meeting next week, although it’s decision likely won’t be presented to the Rainy River District School Board until the fall.
The review, which saw four public consultations, began back in February.
“The meetings have gone well,” said committee chair Krista Kellar, though admitting she had expected more community feedback than the committee received over the course of the past four months.
Still, she added there were several “amazing” presentations made by families and individuals, as well as organizations such as the Township of La Vallee, Naicatchewenin First Nation, the Crossroads School Council, Country View Child Care, and Remax Realty.
“The overall theme seemed to be to keep it the way it is,” Kellar summarized.
“We understand enrolment is an issue, but that’s a separate issue than closing the school,” she added.
“The overwhelming feeling of those who have come forward is to keep the school open.”
The Crossroads review follows that of Donald Young School in Emo, which held its accommodation review process last year, and Sturgeon Creek School in Barwick, which completed its process in February.
Due to the Ministry of Education changing of the definition of a “supported school,” schools now must be further than 20 km apart in order to secure additional funding.
This resulted in reduced funding to operate these three schools, which is why they are undergoing accommodation reviews.
For the Crossroads review, the committee has considered 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 options being weighed by the committee 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 in Emo or J.W. Walker School in Fort Frances; or
•consolidate it with a new Donald Young School in Emo.
“The biggest thing is Crossroads right now is the only school [of the three being reviewed] running at a deficit that is a very small margin,” noted Kellar, citing the school’s deficit is $9,000 a year.
“And that is directly due to enrolment.
“If someone has two more kids, we’re fine,” she chuckled.
Kellar stressed presentations showed that closing the school would be detrimental to La Vallee for a number of reasons, including the fact that the school houses the only licensed day care in the community, it is the hub of activity in the community, and it is the community’s emergency evacuation centre.
“At the end of the day, I hope the school remains open,” said Kellar, adding she’d also like to see an increase in enrolment at the school.
“I’m very happy with the quality of education my kids are getting there,” she remarked.
While people no longer can make a presentation to the committee, written feedback is being accepted until Friday (June 7).
“They can still ask questions and, of course, they can still access all the information on the website,” Kellar said.
The committee will meet next Tuesday (June 11) to discuss its final recommendation.
The meeting is not a public forum, although the public is invited to attend and observe the discussion.
Once the committee makes its recommendation to the school board in the fall, the board ultimately will decide the future of the three schools.
