School District 57’s board of education voted at its Tuesday, Feb. 11 meeting to officially start considering the closure of Giscome Elementary School at the end of the current school year.
This kicks off a public consultation process of at least 60 days before the board can make a final decision.
A long-range facilities report prepared by administration staff and discussed at a Jan. 28 committee of the whole meeting recommended the closure of Giscome, the Central Interior Distance Education School, Van Bien Elementary School, McBride Centennial Elementary, Valemount Elementary and Morfee Elementary sometime between this school year and the 2033-34 school year.
Supt. Jameel Aziz said at the meeting that the closure is being proposed not due to budgetary concerns, but due to concerns over equity and access to programming for students.
He said that due to the small size of the student population — 10 this year and an expected seven students at best next year — children are missing out on extracurricular activities and programming available to students at other schools.
The proposal would see the remaining students move to Blackburn Elementary School for the 2025-26 school year.
The superintendent said that the farthest commute for any of the remaining students next year would be 20 minutes at most.
Trustee Cory Antrim asked about busing opportunities for students while Trustee Sarah Holland asked how the public consultation meetings over the closure would work. Chair Craig Brennan said those discussions would be better served once the conversation has begun.
Holland stressed after seconding the motion to consider closure of the school that closure is not assured at this point, but is the beginning of a public conversation with the affected community.
The motion to consider the closure of the school passed unanimously, beginning the consultation process of at least 60 days.
Briefly addressing administration’s recommendation that the Central Interior Distance Education School, Aziz said that administration believes that the quality of the program does not match the same level of quality as other similar programs available in BC and it is their opinion that those resources would be better utilized elsewhere in the district.
The program runs out of the John MacInnes Centre, a former high school. As CIDES is not considered a school by definition, its closure does not require a public consultation period.
After the meeting, board chair Craig Brennan said the board will now follow its school closure policy. District staff will begin discussing the ramifications of the closure as well as reaching out to those affected. What happens to the teachers working at Giscome will be part of those discussions.
“You heard from trustees starting to ask questions already around distance and timing and busing, things like that,” Brennan said.
Brennan said the other potential closures identified by the facilities report will take place over the medium to long term.
As for CIDES, he said the superintendent would lead the work on winding those operations down. Asked about Aziz’s comment about the program’s quality, Brennan said it was his understanding that it was in reference to a low completion rate of enrolled students.
That policy states that the public consultation must include “A fair consideration of the input from the affected community and provision of opportunities for that community to respond to the Board’s proposal to close a school permanently,” as well as consideration of potential future enrolment growth at the school in question and the potential alternative community uses for the building.
All people who could be affected by the closure “should be made aware of the board’s proposal to close the school” and the board must hold a public forum as part of the process.
If the board does eventually decide the close the school, it must pass a bylaw ordering the closure and notify the Minister of Education of the decision.
