by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
PEMBROKE — The death knell has sounded for two more elementary schools in Renfrew County.
Trustees with the Renfrew County District School Board voted 7-1 in favour of closing Westmeath Public School and Madawaska Public School at the end of this school year.
It was disheartening to Melissa Dick, who tried to hold back the tears when the final vote was taken. She, along with about 10 more people showing support for Westmeath Public School (WPS), sat in the audience throughout the meeting.
“We move on,” she said in a choked voice. “We keep our community strong. We keep our community together.”
Ms. Dick said when the process started and the WPS Save Our School committee was formed, she believed the decision was practically made and the school would close. But, as the days and weeks pushed on, she began to think differently.
“As we got going and the community stood behind us, I felt so much more hopeful,” she said, crying harder now, wiping her eyes with a tissue. “And then this morning I woke up and the sun was shining. It was a good day.
“Now it’s getting cloudy.”
Neil Nicholson, the chair of the WPS Save Our School committee, is disappointed, but knows it’s not the fault of the trustees.
“They make the decision within the parameters that are given to them by the Province,” he said, “And really, it’s the province and its desire to make numbers crunch that have created this situation we are in right now.”
This will not be the only community affected, Mr. Nicholson said, noting it will happen across northern and rural Ontario.
He said following the delegations at a special board meeting earlier this month, he had a “warm feeling, because of the support from the community. Ten delegations … those were outstanding delegations, incredible people in the community. I think it really showed the strength of our community, which is where we want to raise our children.”
Mr. Nicholson said Westmeath is a strong community and it will thrive.
“What I’ve had my eyes open to is the strength of the community, the relationship that we can forge with our township, and I think the future is in our own hands,” he said. “If we take the necessary steps to try and repair ourselves after having the school removed, I think we still have a future.”
But, Mr. Nicholson doesn’t believe all the students will transfer to Beachburg Public School. Following a survey taken in early April, the results showed that 12 families of one or more children will transfer to the Catholic board, there are three who will home school and five who will look at French schools, he said.
“I don’t think we’ll see all the students transfer over to Beachburg,” he said. “There will be a smattering across the board.”
Whitewater Region Mayor Hal Johnson is not happy with the decision. First, he believes there should have been two votes, one regarding Westmeath and another regarding Madawaska Public School.
It’s very hard to promote growth and development in a community when a school is closed, he said.
“It’s very disheartening for our council, who is trying to promote growth and development, to have another entity in the same group, another group of people, stopping our growth,” the mayor said. “Why are we not working together? Why are we doing things like this? It shows the system is tremendously, badly flawed.”
Mayor Johnson said he’s not ready to stop fighting, hoping to reverse the decision. And he’s going to try and talk to Elizabeth Sandals, the Minister of Education. He has sent emails and had local MPP John Yakabuski talk with her, but she won’t respond to any of the messages.
“The Minister has totally refused to talk to me,” he said. “Totally refused! That is the most ignorant thing that I have ever had happen to me by a politician.”
Mayor Johnson is surprised the trustees didn’t give the committee more time to come up with a solid idea to save the school. Since Westmeath is an end-destination town, the township has to come up with a plan to ensure Westmeath survives, he said.
“You can’t treat an end-destination town like you do a town on a thoroughfare,” he said. “Once you take away why you are going to the town, you don’t go to the town.
“The youth will transit out of Westmeath,” he said. “I predict that as many people that can go into the Catholic school will go there just to remain in their community.”
Mayor Johnson added, “This is absolutely cruel and unusual punishment for a small community.”
Prior to the vote, trustees had an opportunity to address the small crowd gathered from Westmeath.
Wendy Hewitt, board vice-chair, noted that it was a challenging decision to be made. The important thing to remember is the trustees are putting the children first, not the individual communities, she said. The children will be bussed to Beachburg Public School and yet will continue to have a sense of community, she added.
Children will adapt to change, Ms. Hewitt said. It’s not the strongest or the most intelligent person who survives, but the one who is able to adapt, she said.
In the past 10 years, this school board has shut down 11 schools, she said. And the children from those schools have done well, she added.
“While we heard the voice of the community, we have to vote on what is best for the board as a whole,” she said.
Trustees Marjorie Adam, David Kaiser, Leo Boland, Bryon Morris and Susan Humphries also spoke in favour of closing Westmeath Public School. Trustee Kim Dunsmoor-Lough remained silent.
“It’s a very hard decision to make,” said Ms. Adam.
She recalled when three small elementary schools were closed in her area and the students bussed to another school – they have done well.
“It’s necessary that we continue to make hard decisions,” Ms. Adam said. “It’s with sadness I will vote to close.”
Ms. Adam noted this is not the only school board facing the problems of too many empty spaces in schools.
Mr. Kaiser said the best interests of students in all the schools must be considered. Since elected in 2000, his focus as a trustee has been, and will continue to be, what is best to keep the money in the classes for students and teachers.
Mr. Boland said it’s best to be pro-active in making tough decisions instead of facing the challenges that are now being faced in Ottawa, with the possibility of several schools having to be closed at once.
He said making the decision was a bit easier knowing there would be no job losses.
Some of Westmeath classes are just too small, Mr. Boland added. It’s not possible, with two to four students in a class, to do a major project. He visited Westmeath and spoke to the students, and some said they were looking forward to having more students in their classes.
Mr. Morris said it’s with a “heavy heart” his vote will be to close the school.
He recalled when a similar vote was taken 39 years ago when he was a trustee and it was different ending – Westmeath Public School remained open. However, financially, it’s just not possible to keep it open now, he added.
“We are responsible for the entire school board, not just Westmeath,” Mr. Morris said.
He learned a lot during this process, but what most impressed him is the special place that Westmeath is to the people who live there. A resident of Petawawa, he said that community has nothing in comparison to the kind of community Westmeath is.
But, regardless of how unique Westmeath is, it’s just not possible to put extra dollars into the school, Mr. Morris said.
The students can look forward to a “new, consolidated school,” he said. Explaining, he said while the building isn’t new, when the Westmeath community is injected into the school, it will change, “it will be a new beginning for all of us.”
Ms. Humphries said it was a most difficult decision to make, but her decision is based on what made the most sense. The people of Westmeath rallied and worked diligently to find a solution to keep the school open, but, there is no practical solution, she said.
Dave Shields, trustee and chair of the school board, stepped down as chair so he could speak against the recommendation to close Westmeath Public School.
“I guess I’m the odd man out,” he said.
He recalled when the announcement was made in February that there would be a review as to whether WPS should remain open or not. Mr. Nicholson headed the SOS committee and there was respect from all sides during discussions, he recalled.
“You people put Westmeath on the map,” Mr. Shields said.
In 12 weeks, the group tried to come up with ideas to ensure the school stayed open, but that length of time just wasn’t enough, he said.
Mr. Shields believes students in smaller schools have more opportunity to participate in sports because all of the students are needed for a team, not just the best ones being chosen.
“They all get a chance to play and learn teamwork,” he said. “That is character-building.”
In 20 years as a trustee, Mr. Shields has never seen 10 delegations speak to the trustees on just one issue.
He recalled meeting up with Whitewater Region Councillor Chris Olmstead following the special board meeting held earlier in May and talking to him about the decision to be made regarding WPS. Coun. Olmstead told Mr. Shields that students in Westmeath can connect with adults, something students in larger schools have a hard time doing. One of the big reasons they can connect with adults is because of their community involvement, Mr. Shields said.
The people of Westmeath responded with a lot of passion, not just with financial statements, he said. He noted the mayor and council asked for a five year extension so that partnerships could possibly be formed, and he was hopeful the trustees would allow for this to happen.
By allowing the extension, the group could have provided a model to help with declining enrolment, not just in this school board, but boards across Ontario, Mr. Shields said.
It will be sad if the school closes because he believes many of the parents who currently volunteer won’t be able to if their children are in Beachburg, because it’s farther for them to travel.
Mr. Shields also addressed the concern he has with very young students having an hour-long bus ride to school.
“I’m having a hard time imagining putting my four-year-old granddaughter on a bus for an hour,” he said.
His concern is how a child that young is supposed to wait such a long time to use the restroom if he or she needs to, noting when he and his granddaughter walk to the convenience store, she has to stop a few times to use a restroom, and that’s just within 30 minutes.
“How is she going to hold it for an hour?” he questioned.
On June 11, the 110th anniversary of Westmeath Public School will be celebrated, Mr. Nicholson said, adding, and now a celebration of closing.
“It will be an opportunity for both current students, parents, alumni and residents to celebrate what we have in terms of our history,” he said.
