Education council invites input on closures, mergers for 7 Saint John schools

Parents, teachers, students and area residents have expressed concerns over changesproposed for seven schoolsin Saint John's priority neighbourhoods and how they will affect the community.

But Rob Fowler, chair of the Anglophone South District Education Council (DEC), stressesno decisions have been made about any closures, mergers or new buildings,and there's still plenty of time for public input.

On Monday, Fowlershared some of the details about the ideas being considered with city council.

One of the main ones, he said,is building a new middle school for the seven schools affected, which include:

• Centennial School
• Hazen White-St. Francis School
• M. Gerald Teed Memorial School
• Millidgeville North School
• Prince Charles School
• PrincessElizabeth School
• St.John the Baptist-King Edward School

Closing Centennial and movingstudents toMillidgeville Northis an option being considered for the north end, but it would require some catchment area changes, said Fowler.

Closing M. Gerald Teed and sending those students to Millidgeville Northis another option, but that poses a problem because the districthas a long-term agreement with the city regarding the community centre attached to M. Gerald Teed. "And there's a significant financial penalty to walk away from that," said Fowler.

Before any kids would move, any schools would close, we're talking three, four, five years.- Rob Fowler, DEC chair

The DEC has also explored replacing both Centennial and M. Gerald Teed with a new school, he said.

Millidgeville would become a K-5 school, with a Grade 1 French immersion entry point.

HazenWhite middle school students would go to the new middle school, leaving a small number of elementary school students. "We would look at moving those kids to [Princess Elizabeth] and closing Hazen White," said Fowler.

Similarly, in the uptown area, St.John the Baptist-King Edward School would be left with a small elementary school population, said Fowler. "We would look at moving that to Prince Charles and closingSt.John the Baptist-King Edward."

Impact on neighbourhoods 'weighs heavily'

The potential impact on the surrounding neighbourhoods weighs "very heavily" on the DEC, said Fowler. "It's one of the main criteria that we have to consider when we look at any kind of sustainability review and it's one of the most difficult to quantify."

Some of the schools currently serve as the hub for a number of social programs, raising concerns about what will happen to those programsif the schools close.

"There may be some changes here and there," said Fowler. "But our expectation and our hope would be that the programs would not be diminished in any way they would move with the students."

"If that's not the case, then that's something we'd have to look at quite seriously," he said.

• Community unhappy about plans to close Saint John school

The DEC is also considering the transportation issues, realizing some parents in the priority neighbourhoods don't have vehicles.

Provincial guidelines currently dictate a 1.5 kilometre distance between a student's home and school before a bus is provided, but some areas may be dangerous for children to be walking, due to heavy traffic, or a lack of sidewalks, noted Fowler.

Under the proposals, students from St.John the Baptist-King Edward School, for example, would have to walk to Prince Charles."We have Union Street to consider and that's a big consideration for a lot of us in terms of the traffic volume and kids having to cross the street to get to school," said Fowler.

Nearly 150 people gathered at St.John the Baptist-King Edward School last week to protest its proposed closure.

"For the most part parents have been respectful," said Fowler. "They understand that we need to look at something," due to the declining student population, down to about 10,000 in the Saint John area from a high of 14,000 in 2000, and schools that are on average, about 58 years old.

"But people are resistant to change, they don't like change and it's always difficult when it's your school that's affected."

Long-term process

Fowler said there are still two public meetings left when people can express their views, including one scheduled for Wednesday evening at Centennial School and another next week at Hazen White.

The DEC will also accept submissions via emailand mail "right up to the second we vote," he said. "So we do encourage people to continue participating if they have more to offer."

The "earliest" the DEC will discuss the proposals, public input and any recommendations would be during its regular public meeting in April, he said.

"From there, if there is a recommendation and I do want to stress that the status quo is an option. We could decide after all of this that at this point in time, [we're]not ready to do anything," said Fowler.

"But if there is a recommendation that goes forward, that would then go to the minister and it becomes a part of the provincialgovernment'scapital expenditure program."

The capital budget would be announced in the fall of 2017, but it would take six months to a year to develop any plans and acquire a site and then another two years of construction, said Fowler.

"So before any kids would move, any schools would close, we're talking three, four, five years."