A school is reopening! A school is reopening!
In Prince George, that's big news after more than a decade of closures, due to a decline of about 6,000 students, or more than 30 per cent, of the student population from 20 years ago.
About 180 students from Kindergarten to Grade 7 will be enrolled at Springwood this fall, scooping up the school kids living north of city limits in the Salmon Valley area, as well as the kids from the North Kelly Road area and down towards Chief Lake Road.
Everyone south of that will likely end up at Glenview or Heather Park, depending on which side of Highway 97 they live.
Springwood was one of the last schools to close, back in 2010, so it shouldn't be too challenging for staff to make upgrades and renovations to welcome students, teachers and staff back in time for the first week of September. Parents may have to make some adjustments, but the opportunity to have their children in a school closer to home should offset most issues.
Trustees and senior administrators will be meeting with parents at a community information night on April 18 at Kelly Road secondary, starting at 7 p.m., to offer more details and answer questions.
Sadly, the reopening of Springwood elementary, on the northern outskirts of the city, has nothing to do with population growth or a surging number of school-aged children. The school is accepting students again in September because of a Supreme Court of Canada decision regarding class sizes and how the provincial government had to cut a deal with teachers regarding that ruling. Now School District 57 has to reopen Springwood because of class sizes and student numbers at Glenview and Heather Park.
The student population is expected to remain mostly flat for years to come, according to School District 57's estimates, so it's unlikely that Springwood is the first of several more schools soon to reopen.
If anything, the reopening of Springwood might be just another headache for school trustees trying to balance an increasingly stretched budget. Schools aren't cheap to operate, with everything from another principal, heat, light and snow clearing quickly adding up as operational expenses. Some of the extra money from the province will help but if past practice is any indication, it will fall on the school district to offset any funding shortages.
If the B.C. Liberals hadn't played fast and loose with teachers in the first place, forcing them to spend years and a huge amount in legal fees to plead their case all the way up to Canada's highest court, Springwood might never have closed in the first place, affecting the entire North Kelly area.
For area parents with school kids, that might be a point to make with Prince George-Mackenzie Liberal MLA Mike Morris during the election. He doesn't get to take credit for this because if the Liberals had their way, Springwood would stay closed and the area kids would still be stuffed into Glenview and Heather Park.
It's a great day for the Hart with a neighbourhood elementary school set to open its doors once more after a seven-year absence, but it took a group of judges in Ottawa, not Christy Clark's Liberals, to make it happen.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
