The recent announcement by the Rainbow School board of a continuing decline in student enrollment and the possible closing of 12 schools is another indication of a broader systemic problem facing our city.
We are currently in a low- or no-growth environment, which is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. While my grandchildren are being housed in portables in overcrowded schools in southern Ontario, here in Sudbury and other northern communities, we close facilities and bus students longer distances to fewer schools remaining open.
The neighborhood school is becoming a thing of the past. This need not be inevitable. A bigger consolidated school with hundreds of students from a wide catchment area is not necessarily better especially for the elementary grades. I am old enough to remember teaching in a one-room school with seven grades. I still believe some of the best educated individuals came out of these now considered almost primitive learning environments.
Now, with technology, we can go back to the future, with kids of different ages all in the same space learning at their own pace at their individual grade levels, and benefiting from interaction with other students just like in the old one-room all-grade schools.
What to do with unused space in community schools? Convert to community use or even commercial or residential space, possibly for seniors, even generating income to cover funding shortfalls. Closing schools is a traumatic experience for parents, students and the neighborhoods involved. I have first-hand experience as a school board trustee serving as chair of school closing committees – not a pleasant experience. I do urge all those who are concerned about the closing of what they consider as their school to attend the meetings scheduled to learn what is being planned and to offer possible alternatives.
Of particular concern is the closing of schools serving larger areas such as Adamsdale in Minnow Lake, the only public primary school serving a population of approximately 20,000, with a higher-than-average proportion of lower-income families than elsewhere in the city, many located within walking distance of the school. Already, many Minnow Lake students are bused to New Sudbury for grades 7 and 8, who could quite possibly be accommodated at Adamsdale, which has partnership arrangements with the YMCA before- and after-school daycare program, Our Children, Our Future and the Minnow Lake Best Start Hub. It is a true community school with an expansive playground hosting many events throughout the year and would be a significant cultural loss to the area.
However, Adamsdale is only one of 12 schools facing extinction. Cost is a consideration, but certainly not the only element, and there can be creative solutions not possibly under consideration. Besides attending the planned school-closing meetings, contact your area trustee and councillor. You voice is important and your ideas valuable. Be part of the solution for the benefit of all involved and your community.
John Lindsay
Former trustee and Rainbow District School Board chair