Stephanie Higginson

Steph_higginson@hotmail.com May 22, 2013

School District 68 (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) 395 Wakesiah Avenue Nanaimo, British Columbia V9R 3K6 Dear Members of School District 68:
Regarding the impact of the Enhanced Facilities For Learning Plan on the Cedar/Yellow Point/South Wellington areas.

I am an involved parent in the Cedar area with a student in one of the schools proposed for amalgamation in the Enhanced Facilities for Learning (EFL) Plan. This plan states that its three main goals are 1) Meeting each students' unique needs, 2) Continuous improvement of instruction and assessment and 3) Enhanced facilities for student learning. However, the plan, as stated, does not take into account the importance of rural schools within SD68. Instead, the EFL Plan is a document that attempts to fit the schooling needs of a rural community into an urban/suburban schooling model. The current plan has been downloaded onto the community with little to no consultation about what the schooling needs are for this unique community within SD68. Rural schooling has taken a hit in British Columbia over the past decade. Between 2001 and 2012, 196 schools closed in British Columbia (BCTF, 2012). An overwhelming number of those schools were in rural areas (Kilian, 2010). Current funding formulas encourage efficiency and in order to attain such efficiency, school closures and amalgamations have become common practice in order to achieve economies of scale. The EFL Plan states that it wants to improve instruction, meet each students unique needs and provide enhanced facilities for learning. The current EFL Plan proposes to close every rural school in SD68. The four rural elementary schools will be amalgamated into one large super elementary school and the one rural high school will be amalgamated with an underutilized and under-performing school in the south end of the city. These changes are being made in order to take advantage of economies of scale and create better learning opportunities for the students of this area. My question is better learning opportunities for whom? Whose values are being used to define what the unique needs of students are in a rural community? Whose values are being used to define what improved instruction and assessment are? And whose values are being used to define what an enhanced facility for learning is? If SD68 listened closely to the schooling demands and desires of this unique rural community, perhaps it would begin to understand that this community does not feel that the role of the rural school is to emulate the urban school.

It is important to look beyond achievement, instruction and facilities and look at what function a school fills in a rural community. In any rural area of B.C., the school fulfills many roles: a place for learning, including opportunities for continuing education, a place for public meetings and athletic events, a rich resource for knowledge, a salary base providing economic advantage to the community, a focal point for community pride (Nielsen, 2003), (Ministry of Education, 2003). This is no different in the rural areas of Cedar/SouthWellington/Yellow Point. There is also considerable evidence that suggests many educational benefits associated with attending rural schools. These benefits include but are not limited to smaller classes, more individual attention from teachers, better behaviour, civic participation is fostered, safe and nurturing environment, low teacher-pupil ratio, school as the heart of the community, sense of community within school and strong relationships between students and across grade levels (Canada Council on Learning, 2006). Research also shows that smaller schools, many of which are in rural areas improve student achievement, increase attendance and graduation rates, elevate teacher satisfaction, improve school safety and increase parent and community involvement (BCTF, 2012). Closing the rural high school in Cedar in order to create the economies of scale of one super-sized elementary school will have a devastating impact on the heart of this community. Many of us have chosen to move into this rural setting and many others are 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation families who have chosen to stay here. We all value a rural lifestyle for our children. As a parent in this community with one child in kindergarten and one child not yet school aged, I would gladly give up the possibility of a state of the art elementary schooling facility in order to keep our rural secondary school. I do not disagree that there needs to be some educational change in the area. However the proposed change is drastic and cuts right through the social fabric of this community. The timelines that have been proposed are very tight and leave little room for input from the community. Instead of downloading a plan onto the community, perhaps SD68 would do better by listening and responding to what the local community and culture deem as important schooling needs. This plan proposes drastic changes to this community. There are many valuable and plausible ideas being discussed in this community. These ideas both meet the goals of the EFL Plan and allow this rural community to see its values reflected in the way its children are schooled. Rural education in British Columbia is suffering. With proper and sustained community consultation, SD68 has the opportunity to maintain its rural schools. Lets slow down the process, one year will not make a difference when so much is at stake. Working together, we can create better educational opportunities for the students of this unique area within SD68 that truly reflect the values and desires of this community. Sincerely, Stephanie Higginson