By meadowlakeNOW

Proposed transition changes discussed at NWSD public meeting

May 31, 2018 | 6:00 PM

The board and senior administration of the Northwest School Division (NWSD) were given a few more things to consider after chatting with local residents and parents at an open meeting on Wednesday, May 30.

NWSD officials recently announced they were seriously considering changes to the school structures in the City of Meadow Lake, citing the high number of transitions local students have to make between schools.

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 to 12. Under the proposed changes, in 2019 and 2020, 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.

The meeting’s sole purpose was to introduce the proposal, discuss some of alternatives which were considered and also gain feedback from those in attendance.  

The aforementioned plan was one of about five the division considered, however the division’s top choice would disrupt the least amount of students and cost the least to do, around $130,000 for some minor equipment upgrades.

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Another option was to have Gateway, Lakeview and Jubilee become K-5, Jonas to 6-8 and Carpenter to 9-12 but this would be higher than the Board’s preferred plan, with renovations required to add washrooms and modify spaces for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten. This option would also require significant changes to the school catchment areas, which could create awkward shaped boundaries due to the geographic locations of the elementary schools.

A few of the most prevalent points from parents were concerns about younger students being mixed with older students, mental health and extracurricular supports during the transition period, and some were questioning the validity of doing these changes at all. 

Director of Education Duane Hauk said the middle school concept would include adding recesses for these students, something students at the junior high currently don’t have.

“If we make the grade fivers look up to grade eighters, are they going to grow up that much faster?” one parent asked.

“The flipside of that is the idea that a five to eight school could actually keep them younger,” Hauk said. “Grade 5 to Grade 8’s together in schools is not all that uncommon.”

The board and staff said they have tried to look at a good model that would improve things for students in the long run. They will be taking suggestions into consideration, allowing for community members to contact them via email if they had other thoughts or could not make the meeting.

The final decision on the matter is expected to come in November 2018.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated to clarify one of the district options.