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Meadowview School Public Meeting

Meadowview School Public Meeting. February 19, 2008. Purpose of the Public Meeting. To discuss the possible school closure of Meadowview School The following motion was passed by the Board of Trustees of PHRD:

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Meadowview School Public Meeting

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  1. Meadowview School Public Meeting February 19, 2008

  2. Purpose of the Public Meeting • To discuss the possible school closure of Meadowview School • The following motion was passed by the Board of Trustees of PHRD: • Moved by Trustee Volorney that the Board of Trustees commence the process to consider school closure; and specifically that the Board of Trustees hereby serves notice that a Motion to close the Meadowview School, which is located in the County of Barrhead No. 11, will be debated and voted upon at the Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees scheduled for March 19, 2008

  3. Agenda • Welcome and Introductions – Clayton Jespersen, Board Chairman • Superintendent’s Presentation – Richard Harvey, Superintendent of Schools • Parent and Community Presentations • To ensure PHRD has a complete and accurate record of the presentations, please provide a copy to PHRD • Question Period

  4. Admin. Procedure 70-2 - Criteria for School Closure • PHRD Administrative Procedure 70-2 states that an entire school, or 3 or more consecutive grades in a school, may be considered for closure if 1 of 6 criteria are met • Meadowview School qualifies for consideration to close under the following criteria: • Criteria 2.1 – 5 yr. enrolment projections and previous trends indicate the probability that future enrolment numbers in the school may not allow for programming which is effective and efficient in the judgment of the Superintendent • Enrolment as of Sept 30/07 – 22 students (Kindergarten - 3; Grades 1-5- 19)

  5. Admin. Procedure 70-2 - Criteria for School Closure (cont.) • Enrolment projections for the following 5 years: • In my judgment, the very low student enrolment projections for Meadowview School would not allow for programming that is effective and efficient in the years to come

  6. Admin. Procedure 70-2 - Criteria for School Closure (cont.) • Criteria 2.2 The facility space utilization rate as defined by the provincial government as of September 30 in the current school year is less than 50% and enrolment projections indicate no marked improvement in utilization rate for the next 3 yrs • 2007/08 utilization rate for Meadowview School is 22.50% • Criteria 2.3 The continued operation of the school poses a health or safety threat to students, staff or public • Meadowview School currently does not pose a health or safety threat to students, staff or public

  7. Admin. Procedure 70-2 - Criteria for School Closure (cont.) • Criteria 2.4 Less than 60% of eligible students in a school’s attendance area attend the school in their attendance area • In 2007/08 approximately 42% of the eligible students in the Meadowview attendance area attend Meadowview School • Criteria 2.5 The continued operation of the school will create excessive costs to the School Division • If Meadowview School were to remain open 32 full time equivalent students would be required for the school to remain financially viable under its existing structure

  8. Admin. Procedure 70-2 - Criteria for School Closure (cont.) • Criteria 2.6 Total student enrolment in 3 or more grades falls below numbers considered viable from a financial operations and program delivery perspective

  9. How the closure will affect the attendance area defined for Meadowview • If the Motion to close the Meadowview School is passed by the Board of Trustees, Administration will recommend to the Board that the students residing in the Meadowview attendance area be directed to the Barrhead Elementary School in the Barrhead attendance area

  10. How the closure will affect the attendance area at other schools • Students in grades 6-12 who are residents of the Meadowview attendance area are currently directed to the Barrhead Elementary and Barrhead Composite High Schools in Barrhead • Barrhead Elementary School’s utilization rate for 2007/08 is 69.05% • The projected enrolment for Meadowview School in 2008/09 is 18 students • Assuming BES retains an enrolment similar to that of 2007/08 (approx. 600 students) and if the students in the Meadowview attendance area were directed to BES, the utilization rate of BES would be 70.87%

  11. The number of students who will need to be relocated as a result of the closure

  12. Information on the Board’s Long Range Capital Plan • Excerpt from the capital plan • In accordance with PHRD Policy 903 (subsequently re-named to Admin. Procedure 70-2), the Board of Trustees will monitor the remaining division schools (includes Meadowview School) on a yearly basis in terms of facility health and enrolment levels • Policy 903 (subsequently re-named to Admin. Procedure 70-2), provides guidance when it comes to decisions about keeping schools open. Under this policy, individual schools could operate for years, as long as enrolments are high enough to keep the school financially viable and the school building does not require major repairs

  13. Information on the Board’s Long Range Capital Plan (cont.) • The Long Range Capital Plan was first adopted by the Board of Trustees on March 15, 2006 • Since that time the roof at Meadowview School continues to deteriorate, even though the Maintenance Department continues to patch it • The condition of the roof is becoming critical. It is brittle and dry and continues to split and leak due to age and probably will require replacing within the next year • In addition, within the next 5 years the mechanical system at the school will require replacing as well as the main power service, windows, exterior and flooring • Costs for these projects are not included in the financial analysis

  14. The need for, and extent of, bussing • Currently 5 buses serve the Meadowview School attendance area and 3 buses serve the area south and west of Barrhead, adjoining the Meadowview attendance area (total 8 bus routes) • If Meadowview School was closed the 8 routes would be retained but re-designed to transport students as efficiently as possible

  15. Projected impact on bussing • Students currently attending Meadowview School and residing in the far eastern edge of the attendance area will experience an average decrease in ride times of 8 minutes • Students currently attending Meadowview School and residing within a 10 km radius of the school will experience increased ride times due to Barrhead being located 34 km from Meadowview • The average increase will be 5-10 minutes (estimate, depending on the location of the student’s residence) • Consideration will be given to developing a modified express route for students residing south and southwest of Meadowview School in order to minimize the impact on ride times

  16. Projected impact on bussing(cont.) • Students currently attending Barrhead schools and residing in the Meadowview School attendance area will experience an average decrease in ride times due to not having to transfer at Meadowview School • In particular, those students residing close to the Barrhead attendance area will experience an average decrease in ride times of 10 minutes

  17. Projected impact on bussing(cont.) • Students in the Barrhead attendance area residing close to the Meadowview School attendance area will experience an average decrease in ride time of 10 minutes • No resident student ride time will exceed the Board guideline of one (1) hour

  18. Program Implications • From the perspective of instructional delivery and programming, the recommendation to move the students from Meadowview School to Barrhead Elementary School would have negligible impact on Barrhead Elementary School and very likely a positive effect for Meadowview School students • In contrast, leaving the situation status quo would further limit the range of educational programming available and would continue to stress the system’s capacity for effective program delivery

  19. Program Implications (cont.) • There is a potential positive impact related to the social emotional aspect • Currently, grade 6-12 students from the Meadowview School attendance area attend BES and BCHS • If the K-5 students from the Meadowview School also attended BES, their transition to the next Barrhead school would be simplified • In addition, students are more likely to have siblings in the same complex, albeit in a different building. This would have a positive effect for the students from Meadowview School

  20. Program Implications (cont.) • Class size averages and target ranges at BES would remain below or very close to jurisdiction and provincial guidelines • Students in all BES classes receive the same level of care and attention as do students in any other PHRD school • Beginning in the 2007/08 school year students are building a relationship with the BES principal, who spends time each week in Meadowview School • Adding the Meadowview School students would have no negative impact on BES class size and programming associated with class groupings • The students, given the attention that all students receive, can be expected to grow academically and socially in this learning environment

  21. Program Implications (cont.) • The effectiveness of programming at Meadowview, if the School maintained the current status, is a crucial issue to be considered • Because of the small population and the distribution of enrolled students across grade levels, there would certainly be multi-grade classrooms, quite likely having students from more than 3 grades in any given class group configuration • While this is a condition that was necessitated in many historical situations because of geography and transportation limitations, it is less desirable when other viable alternatives are available

  22. Program Implications (cont.) • While Meadowview School’s close association with BES and the community’s resources would provide for basic and essential programming needs, it is not the best possible situation and it would certainly rely heavily on unique skills and talents of the staff • Providing instruction to multiple levels in this environment is not a common professional skill

  23. Summary of Program Implications • The social emotional effects associated with the recommendation to close Meadowview School are generally favorable for all students involved • Potential issues are already commonly managed, and it is reasonable to assume that students will potentially benefit from the new relationships that are formed • The impact on programming in BES is not a significant factor in the decision • Meanwhile, the impact on programming for the Meadowview School, if they were to remain status quo, poses certain conditions that cannot be ignored. Given that a viable solution is readily available, it is reasonable to pursue the alternative • The students of the Meadowview School could experience specific benefits in terms of programming if they were directed to BES

  24. The educational & financial impact of closing Meadowview School • Currently there are 22 students in K-5 at Meadowview School • Instruction is being delivered in a multi-grade, multi-divisional setting with 2 teachers. There is also a program assistant, librarian and an administrative assistant at the School. The school is administered by the Principal of BES who goes to Meadowview School on a weekly basis • The decision to close Meadowview School will not negatively impact the K-5 programs at Barrhead Elementary School

  25. The educational & financial impact of closing Meadowview School (cont.) • The closure of Meadowview School would result in a financial gain in operational costs • Pembina Hills would not incur a minimum deficit of $73,815 in instruction and $10,986 in Plant Operations & Maintenance (total $84,801) • Considering the projected 2007/08 deficit of $50,836 and Meadowview School’s operating reserve at Sept. 1, 2007 of $10,446, the School’s projected accumulated debt at Aug. 31, 2009 is $125,191 ($84,801 + $50,836 - $10,446)

  26. The educational & financial impact of closing Meadowview School (cont.) • In terms of transportation, if Meadowview School were closed, Pembina Hills would receive additional transportation funding of approx. $21,000 based on the current provincial funding formula • The additional funding would be used to offset the additional costs of transporting the students (estimated at $11,100), leaving a net gain of $9,900 • Capital implications of closing Meadowview School are that the projects identified earlier in the presentation will not need to be undertaken, meaning a further deficit in the area of building capital will be avoided

  27. The educational and financial impact if the school were to remain open • If Meadowview School were to remain open the following would need to occur, at a minimum: • current grade combinations would need to be increased beyond 3 grades per classroom • teaching staff reduced • This would not offset the accumulated deficit of Meadowview School nor address the capital needs of the building

  28. The educational and financial impact if the school were to remain open (cont.) • As Superintendent of Schools, I would not recommend grade combinations of more than 3 grades per classroom, given the numbers of students and challenges it would offer both the students and teacher • The combined grades would have to cover the core curriculum in all grades • While combined classes of 2-3 grades can be managed, there is no grade combination of greater than 3 grades in our Division • There is a viable alternative for students within a reasonable distance of Meadowview School

  29. The capital needs of the schools that may have increased enrolment as a result of the closure • There are no additional capital needs for Barrhead Elementary School due to the increased enrolment of the students from Meadowview School • BES has the capacity with no additional capital expenditures to receive the students in the Meadowview School attendance area

  30. The possible uses of the school building if the school was closed • If the Meadowview School is closed, Administration recommends that the Board of Trustees enter into discussions with the community to determine the best possible use for the building

  31. Additional Meeting February 28, 2008 • An additional opportunity for individuals or groups to make presentations directly to the Board of Trustees regarding the proposed closure will take place on February 28, 2008 at the Pembina Hills Division Office beginning at 7:00 p.m. These presentations will be by appointment only. • If you would like an appointment, please phone Joyce Fott at (780)674-8513 • If there are no appointments, the meeting will not take place

  32. March 19, 2008 Regular Board Meeting • The Board will debate and vote upon the possible closure of the Meadowview School at their March 19, 2008 Regular Meeting • The debate will be scheduled on the agenda for 1:00 p.m.

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