School boards carry out mandate voters gave them

Re: “School boards not doing their job when they play urban planners; Trustees should focus on putting needs of students first,” Paula Simons, The Journal, Feb. 2.

I read the article on the school boards and was very disappointed. In past articles, Paula Simons has been a strong supporter of creating a more vibrant, distinct Edmonton, one where more families live in the centre in addition to those already there.

Yet her article denigrates one of the only groups publicly standing up for mature neighbourhoods. My wife and I live in Parkdale. Our daughter is only six months old. At the rate of school closures, our options for schooling her locally might not exist in four or five years when she needs them. She will have to travel large distances. Why? Because other parents chose to live in neighbourhoods without schools and made the arrogant presumption that Alberta taxpayers will build them a new school on demand.

Taxpayers cannot continually spend to construct new buildings to appease the suburbs of Edmonton and Calgary. We have enough space in the existing buildings that we have paid for over the last century. These suburbanites made their choice, yet the position in the article advocates that my daughter should be the one to pay for their choices. The boards are elected and accountable. The people of Edmonton have voted in favour of what the boards are doing. The point was raised that they are exceeding their mandate. Attaching a limited mandate to the agencies on which it has relegated responsibility is standard practice for the provincial government. These boards are encouraged to ignore the big picture and take all the blame for less popular decisions. Luckily, these boards are elected directly by the people of Edmonton. They are carrying out the mandate voters handed to them.

If the provincial government wishes to take back control, it will be up to them to explain why taxpayers should pay for schools in the suburbs when there are buildings already paid for that could be used.

Daniel Fitzgerald, Edmonton