At last nights Elementary Working Group discussions I provided a rudimentary analysis looking at possible scenarios for where students could go in Sept.2010 the event different schools were closed in the Argyle and Windsor families of schools.
A major consideration when looking at the decision to close schools is the potential for students to move to neighbouring schools. I am providing this analysis to enable parents to see where there is space and think about how students would move and what the classes at the receiving schools would look like were a closure to take place.
The redistribution pattern I used was set to maximize the enrollment at the two receiving schools without exceeding their official capacity, this gives a sense of how much of the school community could be kept together during a move.
Windsor and Argyle FOS Scenario Analysis
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Policy 610 Working Group - March 4th discussion summaries
The District has posted summaries of the March 4th discussions for each of the working groups on the School District website. I highly recommend reading these as they give a good perspective on many of the issues
- Alternate Schools Discussion
- French Immersion Discussion
- Fromme Elementary Discussion
- Windsor Family of Schools Discussion
If you have not already done so it is also worth reading the discussion of the list of potential cuts already contemplated for next year as while it may be hard to translate these cuts into specific impacts on students it is clear from the document that the District is contemplating changes that will significantly impact students across the district.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
NVPAC Update
A few quick updates from NVPAC.
1. NVPAC March 25th meeting Cancelled
After consultation and feedback from our members we have decided to cancel the March 25th NVPAC meeting. We realize this creates a challenge in getting parent input for the Policy 610 Working group meetings and in keeping you all informed on other issues and are hoping parents will use our blog and email to share perspectives on these issues during this very busy time.
2. Next Meeting
Our next NVPAC meeting will be our AGM on April 22nd at LMCC. These meetings are for all parents and I hope to see as many people as we can there. If parents are interested in a role within NVPAC we will be taking nominations and electing for next years positions at that meeting.
3. Parent Survey
To help us gather parent input for the working groups we will be asking PACs to forward parents two surveys we will be conducting next week in order to understand the experience and opinions of parents on a variety of issues. Your help in getting these surveys out to parents would be greatly appreciated.
4. District Budget
The school district is expecting to hear from the Ministry about its 2010/2011 funding on March 15th. We will try to communicate any information we have on this via the blog ASAP so we can all understand the budget issues for next year.
5. Blogging
Its sort of redundant to say it here but we are posting our feedback on the Policy 610 working groups and other NV School District info to our blog blog.northvanpac.org , the blog welcomes comments.
6. Gaming Grants Restored
Lastly, one helpful funding announcement from Victoria this week is that while they will no longer be funding playgrounds from lottery revenues they have restored the PAC gaming grants to $20 per student for next year.
Thanks for your ongoing support
Elementary Working Group - Recommendations for Meetings #2&3
After representing NVPAC in the first discussion in the Windsor FOS Policy 610 Working Group discussions I thought I would share my process recommendations for the remaining two elementary working group meetings.
My reason for making these recommendations is to help parents to have an effective discussion of the situations for the children at each of the schools next year. In particular parents want the Windsor FOS and the Fromme discussions to focus on the specific alternatives for the schools in question.
To support the discussion of the school situations, the next meeting should consider the following questions:
1. Are these the right schools to consider for closure and what other schools could be looked at?
2. Are there other student populations that could fill up the schools to address the enrolment and budget issues?
3. For each school under consideration (Plymouth, Blueridge, Seymour Heights, Fromme, Other?), if the school were closed where would the students go next year and what would those schools and the student experience look like (class sizes etc)?
To support this it would be useful for the working groups to have the following information:
1. Rationale for closure of each school
2. The demographics of each school under consideration and all potential receiving schools (the numbers should be total #'s and for each grade + class), they should also include breakdowns of special needs children in each class and which catchment the students come from.
3. School configurations (# of classrooms available) for each school as well as other facilities and building condition information.
4. Demographics for each catchment, where do students in each catchment go (which school, french immersion, private school, etc.). Its likely impossible but if we had an idea of the distribution of children around the catchment that would be useful to understand the impacts on potential receiving schools.
For the 3rd meeting, the group should be enabled to focus on the transition implications. In my opinion there are two main questions that need to be asked for each school at that meeting:
1. What are the aspects of the school and its culture (large and small) that need to be preserved, and how might that be accomplished.
2. What are the concerns that need to be addressed to help students move to another school, and how might those concerns be addressed.
My reason for making these recommendations is to help parents to have an effective discussion of the situations for the children at each of the schools next year. In particular parents want the Windsor FOS and the Fromme discussions to focus on the specific alternatives for the schools in question.
To support the discussion of the school situations, the next meeting should consider the following questions:
1. Are these the right schools to consider for closure and what other schools could be looked at?
2. Are there other student populations that could fill up the schools to address the enrolment and budget issues?
3. For each school under consideration (Plymouth, Blueridge, Seymour Heights, Fromme, Other?), if the school were closed where would the students go next year and what would those schools and the student experience look like (class sizes etc)?
To support this it would be useful for the working groups to have the following information:
1. Rationale for closure of each school
2. The demographics of each school under consideration and all potential receiving schools (the numbers should be total #'s and for each grade + class), they should also include breakdowns of special needs children in each class and which catchment the students come from.
3. School configurations (# of classrooms available) for each school as well as other facilities and building condition information.
4. Demographics for each catchment, where do students in each catchment go (which school, french immersion, private school, etc.). Its likely impossible but if we had an idea of the distribution of children around the catchment that would be useful to understand the impacts on potential receiving schools.
For the 3rd meeting, the group should be enabled to focus on the transition implications. In my opinion there are two main questions that need to be asked for each school at that meeting:
1. What are the aspects of the school and its culture (large and small) that need to be preserved, and how might that be accomplished.
2. What are the concerns that need to be addressed to help students move to another school, and how might those concerns be addressed.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Alternative Programs
Hi all, sorry for taking so long to post. Here's a summary...our facilitator did an admirable job keeping us on track. Our guideline seemed to be the same as the other working groups. It was decided based on time that we wouldn't go through the 23 points as per the draft budget, but that we would go home have a look at the points and come back with our comments at the next meeting. After introducations, it was felt by the facilitator that there was a variety of knowledge of the programs. The facilitator asked for the experts in the room to speak to each of the programs. This did take some time. A question I asked was about waitlists for each of the programs and each program has a healthy wait list. At 8:30, we split into three groups and each group was tasked to discuss the three "C's"; consolidation; cohabitation and closure. We came back just shortly before 9 and it was clear that a defination for consolidation and cohabitation was needed as different people had different ideas. It was also clear that many of the people asked to attend, really didn't have a good feel for the process and what was expected by them. There was also a healthy discussion on whether children should be invited to attend to discuss their programs. Our homework was to go away read the draft budget and come back with ideas on what may have been missed and to hear back from parents; staff and stakeholder.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Policy 610 Working Group - Comments on Windsor FOS Meeting 1
NVPAC is representing parents across the district at the Policy 610 working group discussions on the potential closure of Fromme, Blueridge, Seymour Heights and Plymouth schools, the re-organization of Alternate programs and the delivery of French Immersion.
As NVPAC Co-chair and a Plymouth parent I was involved in the Windsor family of schools discussion representing the district parents.
As NVPAC Co-chair and a Plymouth parent I was involved in the Windsor family of schools discussion representing the district parents.
Overall Process
Respectful Engagement
These are difficult issues for parents and the community and while everyone wants to talk about the situation at their children's schools I was impressed by the commitment of the parents involved who came prepared to discuss the future of their children's education and to engage in productive discussion about the potential consolidation of schools and changes to the programs in which their children are enrolled.
Budget Review
Each of the breakout groups at this meeting were asked to focus on the budget alternatives in light of the list of cuts already contemplated to meet the districts $6~8 million budget challenge. The Windsor FOS group had a few good suggestions but the general consensus amongst the group was that there is such a huge budget gap and there are so many cuts already contemplated that don't yet close the gap that there is very little more that could be done this year and even if it was the money might be better spent first restoring the other cuts that impact student services. Reviewing the impact of students from the proposed budget cuts lead several people to question whether the district should be consider closing more schools to fill as many school as possible rather than closing fewer schools.
Short and Long Term Plans
While there was little time at this meeting to consider the specific different alternatives for closure in the Windsor family of schools the group did discuss the medium-term implications of the capital plan versus the short-term needs of this budget driven consolidation process. The capital plan proposes consolidating Seymour Heights, Plymouth and Blueridge into a single 400~500 student elementary school but this is unlikely to happen for several years. While the group do not all agree with this plan there is an understanding that this is the main long-term plan for the area to meet its enrolment trends and replacing aging facilities. So, while not the immediate focus of the working group, the group needs to be aware of this plan in order to eliminate the cloud of uncertainty and give the community a clear long-term plan for the configuration of schools in the area.
Parent Input Sought
Short and Long Term Plans
While there was little time at this meeting to consider the specific different alternatives for closure in the Windsor family of schools the group did discuss the medium-term implications of the capital plan versus the short-term needs of this budget driven consolidation process. The capital plan proposes consolidating Seymour Heights, Plymouth and Blueridge into a single 400~500 student elementary school but this is unlikely to happen for several years. While the group do not all agree with this plan there is an understanding that this is the main long-term plan for the area to meet its enrolment trends and replacing aging facilities. So, while not the immediate focus of the working group, the group needs to be aware of this plan in order to eliminate the cloud of uncertainty and give the community a clear long-term plan for the configuration of schools in the area.
The working group considers this an opportunity for the community to come together and discuss what we as a community would prefer for the long-term configuration of schools in the area to meet the needs of our students while responding to the immediate need of the district to balance its budget.
Considering the closure of one Windsor FOS school
Focusing on the immediate issue of the three schools in the Windsor FOS under consideration for closure, the group discussed the feasibility of closing multiple schools and agreed that it would not be feasible to close more than one of the schools in the immediate term as the surrounding facilities can not reasonably accommodate the populations of even the two smallest schools without fragmenting the entire population of two schools around the surrounding schools. Based on this conclusion, at the next meeting the group will consider the alternatives for the closure of a single school in the area. The group agreed that we need to look at this from the perspective of the classroom and look at all the potential future scenarios for our children. At the next meeting the group will consider whether these are all the schools to consider and for each potential school closure where would the students go if that school were closed, where could they go, what would classes look like at the receiving schools? At the third meeting the group will look at the implications of closure for each of the schools, what issues arise if you close the school, what aspects of the school and its culture need to be retained and how could an effective transition take place.
Considering the closure of one Windsor FOS school
Focusing on the immediate issue of the three schools in the Windsor FOS under consideration for closure, the group discussed the feasibility of closing multiple schools and agreed that it would not be feasible to close more than one of the schools in the immediate term as the surrounding facilities can not reasonably accommodate the populations of even the two smallest schools without fragmenting the entire population of two schools around the surrounding schools. Based on this conclusion, at the next meeting the group will consider the alternatives for the closure of a single school in the area. The group agreed that we need to look at this from the perspective of the classroom and look at all the potential future scenarios for our children. At the next meeting the group will consider whether these are all the schools to consider and for each potential school closure where would the students go if that school were closed, where could they go, what would classes look like at the receiving schools? At the third meeting the group will look at the implications of closure for each of the schools, what issues arise if you close the school, what aspects of the school and its culture need to be retained and how could an effective transition take place.
Parent Input Sought
NVPAC and each of the school representative groups is asking for your input on these issues to ensure all issues are considered. Are there budget options that haven't been considered. How should we consider the potential movement of children and what issues need to be considered. Please submit any feedback to restructuring2010@nvsd44.bc.ca or to your representatives on the committee.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Province puts some money into education
The 2010 Provincial budget provided a small increase in education funding both in the reinstatement of funds for the Annual Facilities Grants that go toward school maintenance and education funding for students. The increased student funding goes toward covering a portion of the increased teacher salaries, pensions, taxes, HST rebate and all-day kindergarten implementation.
While the small increase and the HST rebates are welcome relief, the school district will not know exactly how much funding it will receive until March 15th when the Ministry provides the district its funding announcements for the 2010/2011 year. However it is unlikely this increase will be sufficient to cover the actual costs of education in the district and even if closures take place the district will also be forced to make significant cuts in services and staffing next year.
Looking at the budget directions interim report posted on the district website the measures being contemplated as possible cuts to balance the budget represent significant cuts that will impact all students, and some quite significantly. We can hope for good news when the Ministry gives its final numbers but no matter what happens I think the district will need more help from parents to support our children's education.
While the small increase and the HST rebates are welcome relief, the school district will not know exactly how much funding it will receive until March 15th when the Ministry provides the district its funding announcements for the 2010/2011 year. However it is unlikely this increase will be sufficient to cover the actual costs of education in the district and even if closures take place the district will also be forced to make significant cuts in services and staffing next year.
Looking at the budget directions interim report posted on the district website the measures being contemplated as possible cuts to balance the budget represent significant cuts that will impact all students, and some quite significantly. We can hope for good news when the Ministry gives its final numbers but no matter what happens I think the district will need more help from parents to support our children's education.
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