Heather Latter
The Northwest Catholic District School Board is continuing to investigate the feasibility of a Catholic secondary school here—and in Dryden—after Director of Education Rick Boisvert presented a report to the board at its regular meeting last week.
“We gathered additional information to provide for you,” Boisvert said, noting trustees had passed a motion back in March directing senior administration to investigate the feasibility of a Catholic high school.
“Part of the discussion when the board asked about the feasibility was what it would look like for programming for students, so I really tried to provide a flavour of that,” he remarked.
“And we also looked at some other reports . . . that I thought provided some insight into the kinds of things trustees would have to consider here in terms of feasibility.”
Boisvert said he contacted a small secondary school within the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board to inquire about its experiences.
He indicated he spoke to both the principal and the director of education of a Grade 8-12 school.
The enrolment there currently is 350 students, but Boisvert was told the school was a lot smaller when it first started out.
Boisvert noted the school offers locally-developed “applied” and “academic” programming.
“There are challenges with ‘working the numbers’ and, as a result, the average class size in some classes are lower than the provincial requirements,” he said.
“The goal is to offer as many programs and courses as you can for kids,” he explained.
“But at the same time, it makes it difficult because there are some courses you have to offer for kids to meet the requirements in the stream that they are in.”
Boisvert added the school offers a full range of extra-curricular athletics with some success, as well as strong programming for music and drama.
It also offers technology programs, including a full auto, wood, and metal shop, but the program is 22 years ago and took a lot of time and costs to develop.
Boisvert also included for trustees a report from the Geraldton Composite High School, and mentioned that both Atikokan High School and Rainy River High School are local examples of small secondary schools.
He referred to Ontario’s Small Schools—People for Education 2005 report.
While Boisvert acknowledged some things have changed since 2005, what he cited from the report were some of the concerns addressed.
“The costs are a constant,” he remarked.
“Whether you are running a large school or a small school, all of the utilities that you have, all of the upkeep, administration, staffing—there are things that are constant that regardless of the size of the school, it has to be addressed.”
The report also noted that even with some of the funding offsets that come to the board through grants, there still are a lot of challenges with funding.
Boisvert said small secondary schools make “trade-offs” (i.e., perhaps a part-time library instead of a full-time one).
In terms of benefits, Boisvert noted in small secondary schools, students are more connected and there tends to be higher graduation rates.
“They also tend to have a higher community use of schools after hours,” he added, noting a small school might require looking outside and considering partnerships with community hubs.
Boisvert acknowledged his report didn’t include any specifics because the board hasn’t even gone to the community yet to see if a Catholic high school is something it wants.
“There are a number of factors that need to be considered in much greater detail prior to the board making decisions about next steps,” he stressed.
“We want to better understand the level of community support in both Fort Frances and Dryden, we want to investigate in detail the funding that would be available, and we also want to determine if there is a potential for partnerships within each community.”
Boisvert also said the investigation regarding a Catholic secondary school, and the scheduled consolidation of St. Francis and St. Michael’s Schools here, are separate issues.
“They are both here at the same time . . . but the two are unconnected,” he noted, adding including a high school within the new consolidated school was not part of the board’s application.
With three recommendations provided for next steps, Boisvert said the board needs to consult with both the communities, as well as the Ministry of Education, to see what a Catholic high school would look like there before it can start looking at the numbers.
“We need a little more information. We need to get everything out on the table,” agreed Stratton trustee David Sharp.
He believes there are plenty of options that should be considered, such as perhaps partnering with the Rainy River District School Board.
“We have a responsibility to provide Catholic education for our kids, not just from JK to Grade 8,” Sharp noted.
“We really have a mandate to do it to Grade 12.
“And if we don’t look at that seriously, as far as I’m concerned, we’re not doing our job,” he stressed.
“I think it is our responsibility to go ahead with the next phase,” echoed Fort Frances trustee Anne-Marie Fitzgerald.
Trustees agreed to the recommendations which directed senior administration to:
•further investigate the feasibility of Catholic secondary schools within the communities of Fort Frances and Dryden, including consultation with the Ministry of Education regarding board funding information and grant structures; and
•investigate potential partnerships to enhance the feasibility of Catholic secondary schools within the two communities, including consultation with community partners and with each local community, with a report to the board by May, 2016.
“This gives us time to put a little meat on the bones so we are able to give some more detailed information that would relate for directly to our board and the communities,” Boisvert said.
It’s hoped the more detailed report to be presented in May will give all of the information necessary to determine a course of action.
