Vulnerable families ‘warm’ to change
Beverly Heights parents like idea of $20M replacement school
In the music room at Lawton Junior High School, a Somali interpreter translates as mothers and fathers urge the public school district to put a $20-million replacement school in their northeast Edmonton neighbourhood.
In late June, public school trustees will decide which of three older communities gets a new provincially funded K-9 school.
“What do we have to do to have the school?” translator Ali Mahdi asked to laughter and nods from about a dozen parents in the Lawton music room. The parents in the feedback session were immigrants from Somalia whose children attend three Beverly Heights schools that could be closed and replaced: Rundle Elementary School, R.J. Scott Elementary School and Lawton Junior High School.
“They say they came here (to Edmonton) for the benefit of their children ... (and) want an opportunity for a better education,” Mahdi told education officials.
About 100 community members, parents and educators attended the Lawton School meeting, one of a series of meetings Edmonton Public Schools is running to collect public feedback on three amalgamation options. At three community meetings last week, school district officials presented an overview of plans for a replacement school. Parents and community members then broke into smaller groups to offer opinions and ask questions.
The district is studying all the school buildings and sites, traffic patterns, roads and transit accessibility, enrolment numbers, how many students live nearby, the condition of the buildings, costs to modernize them, the proximity of the buildings as well as community support before deciding where to build the replacement school.
One of three communities will get the new school that will open in 2016 for up to 800 students: Highlands, Westmount or Beverly Heights. But it means three schools in the selected community will be closed.
While reaction among the Somali parents was enthusiastic, feedback in other rooms at the Beverly Heights meeting was more measured but still optimistic about the idea of school amalgamation.
“I look at it as being a positive for the neighbourhood,” said Glenda Powell, chairwoman of the parent advisory committee for Rundle Elementary School.
Most of the concerns in Powell’s group discussion centred on putting elementary students in a school with older, junior high kids; longer walking distances or bus rides to the replacement school; and maintaining community supports and services that exist in the schools up for replacement.
“But overall it seemed like they were pretty warm to it,” she said.
Powell’s eight-year-old daughter attends Grade 2 at Rundle School and her younger daughter starts kindergarten there next year. They typically walk about three minutes to get to the school, but would likely have to drive or take a bus to a replacement school. It’s an inconvenience Powell believes would be worthwhile.
Wireless service at Rundle School was just installed this year, the building is old and the playground is worn, Powell said.
“We need more new resources. These kids deserve just as much as the newly built areas and neighbourhoods,” she said.
“Unfortunately, it’s going to inconvenience some parents ... but, ultimately, we’re darn lucky we’re in the running.”
Rundle, Lawton and R.J. Scott schools all have low enrolment, with buildings that are about 50 years old and in “fair” condition, the district says.
All three schools get extra funding because a high percentage of students are deemed socially vulnerable. Rundle is ranked No. 7 on the list, with nearly 88 per cent of students assessed as socially vulnerable. Lawton is No. 10 with 83 per cent and R.J. Scott is No. 24 with 75 per cent. A profile of Beverly Heights on the city’s website, which uses 2006 Canadian census figures, says the average annual household income in the community was just under $61,000. That’s about $11,000 a year less than the average income for Edmonton.
R.J. Scott Elementary School serves many singleparent families, and families with low incomes who may work long hours or multiple jobs. Lots of students walk to school, said R.J. Scott principal Pat Sachse. Schools in the area also serve many First Nations, Métis and Inuit students as well as a large Somali community, many of whom are learning to read and write English.
“We’re working very hard to keep them informed because we know that education is very important to their kids,” Sachse said.
The school district took extra measures at the Lawton School meeting to make sure parents in the area could attend, busing people in, providing childcare and bringing in the Somali interpreter.
Parents in the group sessions laid out a detailed wish list of programs, services and features they’d like built into a new school if it lands in Beverly Heights.
Flexible classroom space, a double gym, after-school sports and recreation programs for students and the community, counselling and addictions services, modern kitchens, the latest technology, a liaison to help immigrant families be more involved with their children’s education — all were on the list.