by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
WESTMEATH — The possibility that Westmeath may not grow is real if Westmeath Public School closes.
A community is made up of a variety of things, not just people, and a school is one of those, said Neil Nicholson at Tuesday night’s WPS SOS (Westmeath Public School Save Our School) meeting.
The WPS SOS committee was formed shortly after it was surprisingly announced on Tuesday, Feb. 23 that the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) is considering the closure of WPS, mainly due to lack of students.
“This decision affects the whole community,” Mr. Nicholson said.
While he has had people question if this move to fight back will work, he does not hesitate to say yes. While it’s the province who made legislation that schools with less than 50 per cent of its available seating filled have a review done on it to see if it’s viable to keep open, it’s the board trustees who make the final decision, he explained.
“If there are enough people concerned about the closure, we can make a difference,” he said.
This is not the first time the residents of Westmeath have had to fight to keep WPS open, Mr. Nicholson said, noting that in 1977, Marie Zettler and Izett McBride were able to convince the community to fight back against a possible closure, and they won.
In recent years, Deep River and Calabogie also fought against closure and were able to stay open longer than anticipated. However, due to the student numbers dwindling further, the schools did close, he added.
“This is what this community needs to do,” he said. “We need to keep the school open until there are no more students.”
Tuesday night’s meeting provided information on what the committee has been working on. Along with encouraging people to attend public meetings regarding the closure, the committee has been selling yellow and black ribbons for $2. Once a person purchases a ribbon, they are encouraged to sign their name saying they support keeping the school open. Melissa Dick, another committee member, said the money from the sale of the ribbons will be used for one of two things. There will either be a 110th anniversary celebration at the end of the school year or a farewell party.
Mr. Nicholson noted the committee has provided a one-page pamphlet on the upcoming meetings, which are April 14 at the community hall in Westmeath and May 16 at the board office in Pembroke. The April 14 meeting will allow people to talk individually with board members and staff, he said. There will be four stations set up – transportation, finance, building /facilities and student learning/programs, he said.
He encouraged those attending the April meeting to come loaded with questions. The more questions asked, the more people attending, the more feedback the board trustees and staff receive, the better opportunity to keep the school open, he explained.
The committee also provided a survey to be filled out as well as a sample letter residents can send to the chairman of the board, who is Dave Shields, the trustee for the school, he said.
Mr. Nicholson said the township is supporting the committee and then introduced Councillor Dave Mackay, who was in attendance with Councillor Cathy Regier.
“The council is behind you 100 percent,” Coun. Mackay said. “We will do what we can to support your endeavours.”
Mr. Nicholson said the council was just as surprised at the possible closure announcement as the staff and residents were.
“They were caught off guard,” he said. “They are just as upset about the closure as we are.”
Mr. Nicholson said while the committee is called Save Our School, it should be Save Our Village.
“Our school is about the future of our community,” he said.
It’s about the students, parents, teachers, businesses, parent council, congregations and community organizations, he said.
The goal of SOS is to ensure the community’s voice is heard and that all options have been considered in hopes of keeping it open, he said.
While it’s been noted students will be bussed to Beachburg if the school closes, Mr. Nicholson stressed there is nothing against Beachburg in this fight to save the school.
The school board must save tax dollars wherever it can, and if the trustees are shown no other options as to why the school should remain open, it will close, he said.
Following the Thursday, April 14 meeting in Westmeath, there will be a special public meeting at the board office in Pembroke on Monday, May 16. If anyone wishes to speak at this meeting, they must be on the agenda, he said.
The final decision will be made at the board meeting on Tuesday, May 31.
“We’re hoping it will be a positive one,” Mr. Nicholson said.
School History
He reviewed the school’s history, noting it was built in 1906 with the first fight against closure happening in 1977. In the 1980s, there was discussion to combine the Catholic and public schools, but that was squashed, he added. In 2004, there were discussions of having the Grades 7 and 8 move to another school, but that didn’t happen.
A year later, the school reached 100 students, which was the most it has ever had, he continued. In 2009 a portapak was installed, which allowed for the number of students to double.
However, the student numbers fell and “we are now a very ripe fruit to pick off the tree,” he said.
He noted there has been a reduction in student numbers throughout the county, going from 17,000 down to the current 10,000. Throughout the province, 240 schools have been closed in the last three years. It appears there is the idea to have schools only in centralized areas, he added.
Reasons to close vs. keeping open
Mr. Nicholson reviewed several reasons proposed by the board staff as to why the school should close , and for most of them he provided reasons not to close.
It was suggested combined classrooms are not beneficial to students learning; however he countered with studies show that younger students look up to the older students, which has shown the older students mature quicker.
“They may not learn 100 percent at that level, but they are learning life skills,” he stated.
There is also the possibility that there will be more students in the classrooms, and it has been proven that it’s the smarter students who get the teachers’ attention and slower learners “become wall flowers. They get less of the teacher’s attention,” Mr. Nicholson explained.
There is also the $1.9 million estimated cost to bring the school up to a certain infrastructure level. However, he noted that figure includes paving the parking lot and removing the solid oak doors and replacing them with steel doors, both of which aren’t necessary.
He noted local contractor Jeff Johnson from Beachburg, who is against the school’s closure, has agreed to conduct a review of the infrastructure work the board feels must be done.
As for not having a gymnasium or library, Mr. Nicholson said everything is online now and the school makes 15 trips a year to the municipal library in Beachburg. As for not having a gym, there is much more fun playing outside, he said, noting nature trails to walk, bike trails to ride on and the river nearby for swimming and paddling in.
The idea it will only be an extra 20-minute bus ride is not quite correct, Mr. Nicholson said, noting many students are on the bus for 50 minutes now, and adding another 20 makes it more than an hour long. He believes the 20 minutes will be for those students who currently walk to school.
However, he did add, board staff has not yet made a decision on any bus routes, so the times are not yet set in stone.
Many students who attend WPS live on family farms, so along with going to school all day in a different community, they have a longer commute along with farm chores to do in the morning and evenings, Mr. Nicholson said. Students are also less likely to participate in after-school groups and sports if they live far from their school, he added.
He further noted the further away parents are from a school, the less likely they are to volunteer.
As for WPS not being fully accessible like Beachburg Public School is, Mr. Nicholson said the main floor at WPS is accessible, so if there was a student who required accessibility, the school classrooms could be changed so the student could be on the main floor.
Impact on Westmeath
Schools play an important part of keeping a community thriving, Mr. Nicholson said. They are a part of the social and economic health of a community, he added.
“If Westmeath dies, it will become a secluded group of people who live on the north end of the township map,” he said.
The population will never increase and businesses leave, he said.
“No government will invest in the community,” Mr. Nicholson said.
This could mean, all investments will go towards Beachburg, he said, adding, again, the committee is not against Beachburg, it just thinks that Westmeath is just as important as Beachburg.
There will be longer bus rides for the students and parents will not be involved in their child’s school, he added. The larger grades will have a negative impact on some students, he said.
If a school isn’t required, he questioned whether the rink would also close. If the public school isn’t required, maybe the Catholic school will close as well, he added.
What’s Needed
People voicing their opinion against the closure is necessary, Mr. Nicholson said.
However, not just voicing their opinions, but coming up with options as to what to do to keep the school open, he said. While there hasn’t been much opportunity to put feelers out to see what the options are, they have included, so far, creating a daycare, removing the portable, finding other users for the available space and inviting the Catholic school to join in WPS but keeping the two schools distinct.
Mr. Nicholson said when he was in the military, one of his jobs was to build a case to close bases. So, now he is switching gears, and building a case to keep the school open.
Ms. Dick said she will link the board’s review to the Facebook page so people can read it themselves and possibly come up with ways of keeping the school open.
The question of a legal defence to force the board not make a decision for one more year was briefly discussed too, with Mr. Nicholson advising there is a lawyer in La Passe who has offered his advice.
The idea of making it an historical building was noted.
Encouraged to attend meetings
Ending the meeting, committee member Jessica McMullen encouraged everyone to attend the April 14th meeting, fill in the survey and write a letter encouraging the school to remain open to the chairman of the board (Dave Shields), Hal Johnson, the mayor of Whitewater Region, MPP John Yakabuski and Renfrew County Warden Peter Emon.
She also suggested if people wanted to give them the letters that would be fine, because it would be great “to take a stack of letters to the school board.”
Encouraging them to attend the April 14 meeting, Ms. McMullen said, “Show them we mean business and we want to save our school.”
Looking around the room, she noted that in attendance were people of every age, every genre and from every part of the community.
Ms. Dick said she was impressed with the turnout and thanked everyone for coming out.
“Please come out again on April 14,” she said.
Ms. Dick said to keep as informed as possible, read the Facebook page that has been established and read and listen to the media from throughout the area, as they have been supportive in getting the information out as well.
Just as the meeting ended, Coun. Mackay shouted from the back of the room, “Keep up the good fight.”
Addresses Council
Mr. Nicholson and Ms. Dick spoke at last night’s Whitewater Region council meeting.
While it’s great council is giving emotional support, Mr.Nicolson said ideas are needed to counter-propose the possible closure of Westmeath Public School.
He doesn’t believe the unique factors of a rural school are being taken into consideration with this possible closure. The school is the last public institution in rural areas, he stated. A school encourages families to move to a community, he stressed. It keeps the family farms alive, he added. It contributes to the life-blood of the municipality, Mr. Nicholson stated.
When considering the closure, the school board should not only consider the school, but the community, he said.
He is hopeful council will add its voice into the mixture, and help make a case for keeping the school open.
“We want key leaders to speak up,” he said. “Those leaders are in businesses, municipal, county and provincial governments.”
Mr. Nicholson said three things are being asked of council. The first is to come up with counter-proposals to keep the school open. The second is to support the committee, which it has done by the mayor appointing Councillor Dave Mackay to sit on the committee. And thirdly, it wants council to work with the committee, the school board and the Ministry of Education to retain Westmeath Public School as part of the township.
Reeve Terry Millar, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of Mayor Hal Johnson, said,” No one likes to see schools close.
“We know what they mean to our communities.”
Councillor Cathy Regier commended the committee in fighting for the school to remain open, and noted while council is behind the committee, it has no influence on the board’s decision and cannot reverse it.
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin recalled when the fight was on a few years ago to keep Ross Mineview Public School from closing. The council and residents rallied and protested, but it didn’t work and the school closed.
“We need to rally and support you people,” he said. “I wasn’t able to attend last night’s meeting, but I will go to the April 14th meeting.”
Councillor Chris Olmstead said the projected enrolment over the next few years for Westmeath Public School is zero growth in students. He suggested Chief Building Official Doug Schultz review building permits and see what the growth has been in the Westmeath and La Passe areas the past few years.
“I think there’s been a lot of activity in the La Passe area,” he said.
