As 2023 draws to a close, northeastNOW is taking a look back on the most important and impactful stories of the year, as selected by our reporters and editorial staff.
A decision on the future of Arborfield School has been made, but it’s a decision that many people haven’t taken laying down.
The North East School Division (NESD) held in-person meetings to discuss the future of Arborfield School in early 2023.
The school was placed under review with its enrollment of 67 students being under the minimum target of 88 students.
Director of Education Stacy Lair told northeastNOW before the meetings that families would get a chance to provide their thoughts on whether the school should remain open.
“It’s also an opportunity for the (school) board to share all of the information back to the community.”
While the low enrollment numbers were a factor in the review, Lair said it wasn’t the only reason.
She said the process also looks into the quality of education being provided, the impacts of split grades, the school’s financials, employee experience, the condition of the building, and transportation.
After the meeting, Lair told northeastNOW the School Review Committee, which has been tasked with gathering all relevant information, presented enrollment projections for the next five years which show a steady increase in students.
“The review committee did a fantastic job, they surveyed and went and asked folks and gave us a much more accurate prediction.”
The Committe’s projections suggested around 82 students for the 2023/24 school year, and 92, 93, 96, and 104 for the following four years. They also highlighted possible outcomes which would see each school year starting in 2024 having over 100 students.
The Committee got these projections through a community survey which they believe is more accurate than just going off birth records. They and Lair both noted birth records don’t account for the kids who have moved away from the community.
However, despite the enrollment projections, the decision was made in April to keep the school open but to reduce it to a Kindergarten to Grade 6 facility.
Lair explained that the decision was difficult, but one that was made to ensure all students in their division continue to receive the best education.
“It’s important for the board to create and look for learning opportunities across the division, so I think (the board is) balancing the best way they could to keep what hopefully will be a strong and viable K-6 school.”
The plan was for most of the students to go to Carrot River’s new school starting in 2024, and Lair noted it’s up to the parents and guardians where they want their kids to go. However, they may not be able to use a school bus.
“Families can choose and drive their children to different schools, but the boundary does impact where we’ll bus students.”
She noted some families have been grandfathered in which means their children will be able to use the bus to go to Carrot River even if they’re not in the school’s boundary.
As expected, many Arborfield parents were unhappy with the decision to stop offering grades 7-12 at the school.
“It’s better than a full closure,” George Schroepfer said soon after the decision was announced, “but it’s not the result we wanted…it’s just disappointing.”
“I’m extremely disappointed in the vote,” added Melissa Gray, who is with the School Community Council (SCC) in Arborfield.
“I have not talked to a single parent (in favour of closing),” she said. “Our whole community of multiple parents came together to rally.”
Schroepfer said while Carrot River is only about 25 kilometers from Arborfield, some students would have faced a bus ride of more than an hour, just going one way.
Less than two months after the decision, the Town of Arborfield and the Rural Municipality (RM) of Arborfield officially filed an injunction.
George Schroepfer started multiple fundraising efforts to pay for the legal challenge, and told northeastNOW he believes the grade closures will lead the area down a slippery slope they may never be able to get up from.
“(If) the school closes, it’s not long before your bank’s closing, then all of a sudden the bar’s closing, and all of a sudden you got nothing left in your town.”
The Town and RM both agree with Schroepfer, claiming in a statement that this decision detrimentally affects the growth of the area as people won’t want to move there just to send their kids to school in another community.
Schroepfer also thinks this will negatively affect the students as they’ll be forced to spend much of their time on the bus traveling back and forth between home and school.
In a later interview with northeastNOW, Schroepfer claimed the division was using unfair tactics to make it seem enrollment is lower than it actually is by allowing students to transfer when boundaries say they should stay in Arborfield.
“We had some students illegally transfer last year because they wanted to play football. Well that’s not a reason to transfer students,” said Schroepfer.
“The goal of the lawsuit is essentially to annul the decision of the board of the closing of Grade 7 to 12,” he said.
“The school is essentially the heart of the community. We looked at other communities that have lost their school in the past… and there’s nothing left in the community.”
Schroepfer said the real estate market is also affected when educational opportunities are reduced.
“A decent house in Arborfield will cost you $130, $140,000 but a similar house in Zenon Park will cost $60,000,” Schroepfer explained.
However, on Aug. 25, a Court of King’s Bench judge dismissed the injunction request by the Town and RM of Arborfield and a private citizen that sought to stop the re-location of the junior and senior high.
“It is also noteworthy that, despite their ability to do so, the Board did not close the entire school. They only discontinued certain grades. Given the attendance numbers and the evidence provided, I see nothing unreasonable in that exercise of discretion,” wrote J. Morrall in a published decision.
“In balancing all these equitable considerations, I also consider the fact that the Plaintiffs do not have a strong prima facie case, there was no meaningful risk of irreparable harm to the Plaintiffs and that the balance of convenience favoured the Board.”
Schroepfer said they will appeal that decision. He said they also found new evidence that shows the school division moved students that should have been in Arborfield’s school.
“A total of 10 students in our catchment area were illegally transferred to Carrot River, prior to the school review,” said a letter addressed to NESD board chair, Kevin Graham.
According to Schroepfer, the school division should have refused to relocate the students as long as their needs were being met by Arborfield School, as their policy states.
A large group of residents of the town of Arborfield are behind the legal challenge to the closure. In addition to planning a lawsuit and an appeal of the injunction based on evidence obtained after the first one was denied, they are asking NESD to investigate the actions of the director, Stacy Lair.
Questions they would like to have answered include more details on what rationale was used to transfer the previous students, discrepancies in the amount of public notification that should have been given and why bussing some students to Carrot River is being allowed against the division’s own policy.
They also want a meeting of the electors and for the NESD to follow the policies it created.
A meeting earlier this year did not have proper notice, they said.
“We are asking the NESD to correct the mistakes that were made. We are asking the NESD to fulfill its public duty and to correct this wrong and avoid further litigation,” reads the letter.
While the division did not return northeastNOW‘s requests for an interview, the Ministry of Education said in a statement that “Saskatchewan boards of education are responsible to administer and manage the educational affairs of their school division, including decisions relating to school boundaries and transportation.”
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