Division considers school structure changes in M.L.

In an attempt to help local students transition more smoothly, the Northwest School Division is considering some changes at Meadow Lake schools for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Currently, Jubilee Elementary School and École Lakeview Elementary School offer K-4 programming. Gateway Elementary is a Grade 5 and 6 school, Jonas Samson Junior High is Grades 7 to 9, and Carpenter High School serves Grades 10-12. Under the proposed changes, Gateway and Jonas Samson would become Grades 5 to 8 schools, Carpenter would offer Grades 9 to 12, and Jubilee and Lakeview would stay the same,

While the idea has been discussed for some time by the division’s board of education and school administration, Director of Education Duane Hauk said the next step is to get feedback from the greater community. A public meeting was set for May 30 at Carpenter High School from 7 to 9 p.m., to give residents a chance to voice any comments or concerns.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly,” Hauk said. “We want to see what people are thinking. Realistically, we’ve spent a lot of time working on this, and I think we’ve looked a number of challenges with it, but there’s going to be some things we didn’t think of, and the community will have the opportunity to bring that forward to us.”

Hauk said Meadow Lake is unique in its current school structure, and consultation with residents will make the implementation of the potential plan much smoother if the changes come to fruition.

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“The number of transitions that we have in Meadow Lake are more than what you see anywhere across the province,” Hauk said.

Other important considerations include boundary lines for transportation and any changes to current staffing structures at each school, Hauk said. The potential changes will also benefit the smaller Kindergarten-to-Grade 8 schools in Rapid View and Dorintosh, he added, where senior students currently move to Grade 9 at Jonas Samson for only one year before moving on to Carpenter.

Following the community meeting, the school division will also accept written submissions from anyone who could not attend in person or has additional feedback. Hauk said the board will examine all the information and make its final decision by this fall.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath