Public District Hosts Southview Parents on Fate of School

Public School District superintendent Tracy Hensel addressing Southview School parents Wednesday evening. (Photo Alex McCuaig)

The first of two consultation meetings discussing the future of Southview Community and Webster Niblock schools took the form of a facilitated workshop.

Southview was the elementary school up for discussion Wednesday evening with Webster Niblock’s turn coming Thursday evening.

Roughly three dozen community members were in attendance.

Wording was carefully crafted with consultants stressing phrasing such as school “amalgamation” rather than “closure” with an emphasis on “no cold-water comments.”

Moderated questions sessions included considerations for the school division to think about when deciding on possible school amalgamation, possible opportunities and challenges if Southview is closed and what supports might be required.

Parent Jennifer Roberts was encouraged by the consultation session but remains committed in her desire to have the school remain open.

Asked about whether she would be ok with sending her son to either of the proposed alternate schools, Roberts indicated class size is an important factor.

“Honestly, I rather he stays where he is. Small class sizes are great for kids and that’s what we all stood for, small class sizes. It helps everyone out,” said Roberts following the consultation session. “If it stays small class sizes, it would be good to change schools but, if it doesn’t, what’s the point?”

Parent Ian Winter was encouraged with the exercise, stating he felt it was meaningful with good discussions, but he does have some concerns as his family lives a close distance to the school and a short distance for his daughter to traverse.

“We moved last year and stayed within the area so it could still be walking distance to the school,” said Winter. “One of my main reservations was the distance having to travel to a different school now and won’t be necessarily able to walk as quickly but hopefully these concerns will be addressed.”

The consultation session opened with a introduction by public school district superintendent Tracy Hensel outlining the current enrollment at district schools and with a graph illustrating deteriorating city birth rates.

She also reviewed the steps the district has taken this year which has led to a recommendation to begin the process of closing two schools which began in January with a $38,000 value-scoping exercise paid for by the province.

That exercise resulted in the district’s three-year capital plan which lists as its priority a rebuilding of Crestwood school to accommodate kindergarten to Grade 9 students. Those higher grade students would come from Alexandra Middle School along with some of those from Southview catchment area if the school is closed.

The plan also identifies Vincent Massey and Elm Street schools to be rebuilt along with a new south end middle school on 13th Avenue.

Those calculations were made by examining maintenance costs versus those associated with building new facilities, Hensel explained.

She also stated the three-year capital plan should be viewed as a 10-year plan and that it’s, “like a wish list,” and the likelihood of seeing such a buildout in the shorter time span is low.

For retired public school educator Mike Seitz, he was looking for more detail regarding why these possible closures are necessary.

“I didn’t come away with information I thought I would receive at the meeting. I thought I was going to learn more about the specifics of the school closure, the reasoning behind it and also learn more about what the impacts of the closure would be,” he said. “And that really didn’t come out in anything we did this evening.”

Consultations continue Thursday evening with a focus on Webster Niblock starting at 6:30 pm and being hosted in the Medicine Hat High School.