Submission to the Rural
Task Force on Education
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Attention: Jim Imrich, Chair
Presentation by the District of Wells
November 14, 2002
INTRODUCTION
The people of Wells believe that rural schools and rural communities are the best places for their children to spend their pre- and elementary school years. Being educated in a community school close to home allows children to walk or cycle to school, to go home for lunch, and to participate in activities after school, opportunities not available to children being bussed long distances to central schools. Rural schools also provide opportunities for parents and other adult volunteers in the community to participate in the children's education and to provide positive role models to influence their development. In addition, community based schools provide a strong sense of safety and security for both children and parents, something that is difficult to have when a school is 80 kilometres away.
The challenges faced by rural children who must be bussed
to schools far from their homes are many and are outlined in more detail
in Appendix A, pages 5-11. The challenges
faced by a community that has lost its only school are also included in
Appendix A, pages 23-25.
THE WELLS EXPERIENCE - 2002
In the late spring of 2002, School District 28 (Quesnel) gave notice of the intended closure of the Wells/Barkerville Community School and the people of Wells became involved in a desperate fight to save their only school. The School Trustees undertook a questionable public process and rejected or simply ignored offers to work co-operatively with local governments to seek a workable resolution. After an intensive six-month campaign that included hunger strikes and Provincial/National media coverage, Wells managed to relocate a classroom to our Community Hall and to retain a teacher for our children. Wells' fight to save its school became and continues to be "a symbol for rural BC", and it is the Wells experience and that of other small "orphaned" rural schools slated for closure which has resulted in this Task Force on Rural Education.
Recommendation 1:
DESIGNATE COMPONENTS OF THE UNIQUE GEOGRAPHIC SUPPLEMENT TO BE USED FOR
RURAL SCHOOL FUNDING ONLY
The Provincial Unique Geographical Supplement (UGS) in its original definition (See Appendix "C") recognized that rural schools, because they do not benefit from the economies of scale or location, require funding that takes into account these disparities. Consequently, a component of the UGS includes a dollar amount based on the existence of each rural school in a District. The Minister of Education however, in keeping with the present Provincial policy of providing more autonomy to local authorities, changed the Ministry's policy and allowed the grants, previously made on the basis of rural schools, to be redirected at the discretion of the local School Districts. As an example, $100,000 annually was initially allocated by the Ministry of Education to School District 28 on the basis of there being a school in Wells (see Appendix "C"), but with the policy change, the Quesnel School District redirected those funds and closed the school in Wells. We contend that this policy change promotes unfair and unethical actions. For example, if the school in Wells is closed, why should the Ministry give a UGS grant to the Quesnel School District instead of to a District in the Fraser Valley or the Okanagan? Where is the rationale or justification?
At the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Conference in October of 2002, the District of Wells brought forward a Resolution in support of keeping the Small Communities Supplement (Unique Geographic Supplement) as a support for rural schools. The Resolution, which was enthusiastically endorsed, read as follows:
WHEREAS equal opportunity to education is the right of all British Columbians, and rural schools are critical to this right as well as to both the social and the economic fabric of rural communities; and
WHEREAS the Ministry of Education's Small Community Supplement was established with the intent to assist School Districts in maintaining their rural schools, and the Ministry of Education has failed to ensure that these funds be spent in support of rural education;
NOW THEREFORE, we call upon the Ministry of Education to ensure that the Small Community Supplement is used to keep rural schools open.
Currently School Districts have been guaranteed UGS grant money for three years by the Ministry even if the original target school is closed. The Minister's refusal to take a "no school, no money" stance on the distribution of the UGS grant has created a strong incentive to close rural schools. If the Unique Geographical Supplement were used as originally intended, "to operate schools in remote communities with small populations" this entire Task Force process would likely be unnecessary. We call upon the Task Force to note the importance of this grant in maintaining the viability of rural schools and recommend that the Ministry re-instate the requirement that appropriate portions of this grant be mandated for the operation of the specific rural schools upon which the grant is based.
RECOMMENDATION 2:
CREATE A RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Rural Schools are an important component of any school system. In 2001, 1/3 of all (Quesnel) School District 28 elementary students went to rural schools. Half of the current elementary schools in the District fit the present Ministry definition of rural, and bring in more money per head than their urban counterparts when special grants are factored in.
Despite this, rural children are the first to have their schools closed when times get tough in town. Sparsely populated areas, remote from urban centres, have little hope of achieving adequate representation in urban based school districts. Urban based programs, most of which are inaccessible to rural students, often take funding precedence over basic rural education and unfairly influence the continuing existence of rural schools. To resolve this inequity, we recommend that a provincially based Rural School District be created to administer rural schools in remote areas. A Rural School District would be comprised of schools defined by their unique or remote locations rather then by geographic boundaries. A Rural School District could provide payroll, purchasing, and personnel services in much the same way as conventional districts do. The physical facilities or schools could be maintained in partnership with rural communities or regional districts exploiting opportunities for joint facilities whenever possible. Teaching staff would be expected to operate in an independent environment, but could receive professional support utilizing technology in much the same way as distant education students are now supported. In place of Trustees, each school would have a Parent Council to undertake auxiliary fund raising, initiate supplementary programs and activities, address emergent problems, and liase with the central administrator.
Criteria for school transfers into such a District would need to be established and any consequent transfer of a school undertaken only upon the approval of the majority of parents with children in that school at the time of application. Equipment, materials, and funding, including grants would need to be transferred into the new District with the school.
RECOMMENDATION 3:
DEVELOP AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OPTION
Provide an option for communities to remove a local school from an existing School District and operate it as an independent or charter school. Unlike a private school, such schools would continue to be operated as a public school financed in the same manner as schools in a regular School District. The operational format for such schools would need to be similar to that described above for schools in a Rural School District. An elected Parent Council would undertake the role of the Trustees and the local community or local government would undertake the support functions and physical plant maintenance normally provided by the School District. It must be recognized that many rural communities would lack the infrastructure and expertise necessary to support all the functions required to operate a modern school and consequently the co-operation of Regional Districts may be required to exercise this option in some cases.
RECOMMENDATION 4:
REINSTATE AN APPEAL PROCESS
It is a basic premise of democratic governance that there be avenues of appeal for groups or individuals who feel that their case has not been adequately heard. Ironically, the revisions to the School Act eliminated such a mechanism just when it was most needed in the province. As an example, the Wells Parent Advisory Council was refused an appeal to School District 28's decision to close our school on the grounds that "this was not an appealable decision".
School Boards operate under the Ministry's policies. So long as we are taxed for a provincial education system the Ministry bears some responsibility for the decisions of School Boards to whom they have transferred our tax dollars. Although we are very confident in the voting power of an informed electorate, an election is a poor and untimely substitute for what should be an administrative appeal process. We recommend that an appropriate appeal process to address violations of school closer process be re-instated.
SUMMARY
In summary, most remote rural schools are essential to the economic growth and sustainability of their communities. These towns exist for a reason, whether it be to support tourism, extract resources, farm or service local industry. If the school does not exist, these centres may not exist as families with children will be forced to give up employment and move away. This is a fact that the Provincial Government must understand. Rural children deserve a fair chance at an equal education. As such we would like the Task Force to bring forward in their report to the Minister of Education the following recommendations:
1. Designate components of the Unique Geographic Supplement to be used for Rural School Funding. Adopt a "No School, No Money" policy to ensure the supplement does not get used to destroy the very objectives it was meant to serve.
2. Establish a Rural School District that will fund, administer and operate rural schools in remote locations.
3. Provide an option for communities to opt out of a School District and establish independent or charter schools funded with Provincial School Tax dollars at the same levels as any other public school.
4. Develop an appeal process within the School Act whereby an impartial party or official, with the power to influence further outcomes in the situation, can hear groups or individuals affected by School Board decisions.
5. Enshrine in policy the principle that all children in British Columbia are entitled to an equitable education.
Mayor Dave Hendrixson
Gary Champagne, Chief Administrative Officer
Appendix B: Resolution passed at the Union of BC Municipalities 2002 Convention and AGM.
Appendix C: Letter from Minister Christy Clark to Louise Scott, July 30, 2002.
Appendix D: "Rural schools get shot in arm", Paul Strickland, Prince George Citizen, Nov. 9, 2002.