Canadá: Boards, municipalities need to talk about school closures, education minister says

Canadá/Marzo de 2017/Fuente: CBC

RESUMEN: El ministro de Educación de Ontario dice que los consejos escolares y los municipios están siendo recordados que necesitan consultar entre sí cuando se trata de tomar la decisión de cerrar escuelas. Mitzie Hunter y su colega de Queen’s Park, Bob Chiarelli, ministro de Infraestructura de la provincia y diputado de Ottawa West-Nepean, enviaron recientemente una carta a los «líderes municipales y líderes de los consejos escolares» de Ontario para reiterar que deben trabajar juntos cuando se trata de tomar una «decisión difícil. Los comentarios de Hunter llegan un día después de que CBC News informara sobre la situación que enfrenta Yarker Family School, una escuela de preescolar hasta el grado 3 en Yarker, Ontario, una pequeña ciudad a unos 30 kilómetros al noroeste de Kingston. La población estudiantil de la escuela se ha reducido a sólo 26 niños, aproximadamente un tercio de la capacidad de la escuela. Eso llevó a la gente de Stone Mills Township a preocuparse de que el cierre de la Escuela Familiar de Yarker pudiera desencadenar una ola de cierres de escuelas rurales.

Ontario’s education minister says school boards and municipalities are being reminded they need to consult with each other when it comes to making the decision to close schools.

Mitzie Hunter and her Queen’s Park colleague Bob Chiarelli, the province’s infrastructure minister and MPP for Ottawa West–Nepean, recently sent a letter to Ontario’s «municipal leaders and school board leaders» to reiterate that they should be working together when it comes to making that «difficult» decision.

«That conversation needs to be happening,» Hunter told Alan Neal, host of CBC Ottawa’s All In A Day.

«At the same time, we know that school boards are always thinking about what [they] need to do to provide the best opportunity for our students. Because that’s their responsibility.»

Hunter’s comments come one day after CBC News reported on the situation facing Yarker Family School, a junior kindergarten to Grade 3 school in Yarker, Ont., a small town about 30 kilometres northwest of Kingston.

The school’s student population has shrunk to just 26 children, approximately one-third of the of the school’s capacity. That’s led people throughout Stone Mills Township to worry that shutting down Yarker Family School could trigger a wave of rural school closures.

Yarker’s school is the only one in the township currently under review,  but the Limestone District School Board’s long-term pupil accommodation plan recommends reviewing the other four — all of which are under capacity — next year.

«This school has been the heart of our community for over 150 years,» said Jill Kilgour, who moved back home to Yarker three years ago so her children could attend the same schools he did.

«It would really be a shame to see our heart stop beating here.»

‘Shifting demographics’ the new reality

The township’s council hired a consultant to add up what school closures would cost the local economy and its report estimated losses of close to $3.2 million per year — an amount equal to more than half of Stone Mills’ annual budget.

«The reality is that there are shifting demographics across the province. There are differing needs for the student population of today. So we don’t expect the same schools are going to serve the same communities, without any change, over time,» Hunter told All In A Day Wednesday.

Hunter said the province can provide boards extra funding so that they’re able to keep open a school that’s not near another facility.

She added that school boards and municipalities are required to meet annually to talk about local planning matters.

«We are very supportive of those types of conversations happening amongst communities and school boards,» Hunter said.

Stone Mills township is not the only eastern Ontario municipality facing the spectre of school closures.

Last week, the Upper Canada District School Board voted to close 12 schools in small communities outside of Ottawa.

Fuente: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/mitzie-hunter-school-closures-1.4046147