Alberton residents will make an appeal to save their community school Wednesday night when they attend a public session for the collective design process of an expanded J.W. Walker School.
“Our main goal is we’d like to see our school stay open,” said parent Danielle Robinson.
“We’ll be presenting them with a petition. A majority of the people are signing, and even some parents of students attending other schools are showing support for country schools,” she added.
Robinson said she and other parents have met with the Rainy River District School Board, and have received letters sent home from the school. But she feels the board hasn’t been straight with parents as to whether there was ever a choice to close their school or not.
For instance, an April 6 letter from the board states: “As you know, the Board of Education is currently moving ahead with plans to renovate and make an addition to J.W. Walker School. When completed, this building will house the students and staff from J.W. Walker, Alexander MacKenzie and Alberton Schools.
“As your children will be attending school in this new and renovated building, it its important you be part of the planning process and make your views known on what should be included in the design of the school.
“We hope that as many of as possible will be able to take part in the Collective Design Process that is scheduled to take place at J.W. Walker School on Wednesday, April 18, beginning at 6:30 p.m.”
Robinson also noted that, according to the board’s 1998-99 “costs by school” chart and its “accommodation expenditures vs. grants” chart, Alberton School is “more cost-effective than some other schools.”
At that time, Alberton School was at 76 percent student capacity (85 students), and cost $452,681 to operate (excluding transportation costs). Other schools that year were shown to be operating less efficiently, such as Sixth Street School, which had 67 percent occupancy (83.5 students) and cost $645,292 to run.
Sixth Street also may be closed in the future, with the students moved to a renovated Huffman.
“We feel the school board has been going through the backdoor. It seems we have nothing to say,” remarked Robinson.
But she added she doesn’t know what good the petition will be.
“It’s probably going to happen. But we have to put forth some sort of effort to know that we tried. We’re not counting on saving the school,” lamented Robinson.
While some residents may see the expanded school as a done deal, Superintendent of Education Terry Ellwood said it isn’t the case.
“Nothing has been set in stone by the school board,” he stressed. “Taking public input into consideration, there’s still a motion to go ahead with the project.
“If that happens, there’s the whole school closure process. There’s still steps left in the process,” he remarked.
As far as questions of costs and pupil accommodation go, Ellwood said the board has been answering the public’s queries for the past year. “And there’s always opportunity for more questions and answers in the future, including [tonight],” he stressed.
“All we can do is offer people the opportunity to have input into the process. We strongly encourage them to keep involved in this,” Ellwood added.
The board has been evaluating which schools to renovate, and possibly close, for more than a year. This has been done through various committees, which included trustees and school council members.
The decision to look into an expanded Walker, which would house 325 students, came after the board decided it may be too costly to maintain schools such as Alexander MacKenzie and Alberton.
According to a report from Murray Quinn, superintendent of plant operations and maintenance, major problems identified with Alberton School in a facility study report last year included:
•the washroom within the facility requires a complete upgrade;
•the entire fire and life safety system should be upgraded to present day code;
•the facility has electric heat, and the possibility of system upgrade and conversion to natural gas should be considered;
•the air exchange in the facility needs to be upgraded;
•the playground and staff parking areas, as well as the entrance, need to be improved;
•the staff work area and principal’s work area have to be improved; and
•there is a lack of storage space.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
