A letter to Margaret Macdiarmid, Minister of Education
I am writing in concern for our local school, it has been put on a list for closure. Hixon
Elementary is at the south end of School District #57. We have 33 students attending this
year. When the costing figures were done at the beginning of the school year we had 25
students and enrollment has increased.
Since this is a rural school the closest elementary school is 30 miles away to Buckhorn
Elementary. The bus trip for our young students could be over one hour each way with
the bus stopping to pick up children on the way. As it stands now our High school
students are being bused and some of them need to be on the bus at 7:00 am and do not
return home until 5:00 pm. This trip is hard on them and they are 12 to 18 years of age.
Imagine what the impact will be on 5 or 6 year olds. Consideration should be given to
busing the children each day from a northern community. Weather and road conditions
can be hazardous and we have winter conditions for most of the months the children are
in school. Either the children are put in danger on these icy roads or left at home and miss
several days of school, therefore not getting the education they are entitled to. The fear
that more of the children from our community could be put in danger is very concerning
to me and should be to you as well.
The impact of a school closure in this community would be devastating. Families would
be reluctant to move here and it would impact our local businesses, employment and land
values.
According to the figures given to us by the School District, this school is over budget by
$190,000. I don't know if this includes the $100,000 given by the Provincial
Government to the School District for us because of our location on the map. We also
receive a generous donation each year from a local sawmill for $10,000 (this is extra
money). We have a tax cost base that covers our school costs.
At Hixon Elementary we have a part time Principal, two regular teachers and two
Teachers Assistants for children with disabilities. The amount of teachers and assistants
changes depending upon enrollment and age of child.
I have also become aware of the spending in the School District Budget and feel that
there are other areas that could be reduced rather than closing our school. Expenses like
34,000 for flowers, over 200,000 for catering, 250,000 for car rentals and many
more expenses that could be reduced instead of taking money from our school. Also
School District 57 has 300 administrators with incomes of at least $75,000 per year.
Considering all the school closures and loss of students maybe administrators should be
the area that is reduced, if you reduced the administrators by three you could cover
$225,000 plus save a community and our school.
When deciding on areas to cut it seems that all of the cuts directly affect our children.
with teachers and assistants being cut when the cuts should be from administrators and
frivolous spending. I feel that the budget should be looked at with a more discriminating
eve and deductions could be found. Our children's education and security should not be
paying the price for improper fiscal management
In closing I would like to say that I have lived in this community nearly all my life and
my children and grandchildren have gone to this school. It is a sad day when we are told
the government has given 85,000,000 more to education yet our children may still be
affected by financial cutbacks. The financial distributions in the School District budgets
are very concerning to me as there are pages of expenses that fail to relate to education
priorities. Perhaps an external audit is in order. I'm sure that all your T's are crossed and
I's dotted but let's get real here.
Virginia Lawrence
Hixon
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