Medicine Hat Public School Division trustees voted Tuesday to shutter two local elementary schools with low enrolment to better provide services and funding for all students.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat Public School Division school trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to close both Webster Niblock and Southview Community schools at the end of the current teaching year.
“It was a hard decision, but the board has made the one that I think is going to bring resources back to schools and benefit kids in the long run.” chair Catherine Wilson told reporters following a special meeting Tuesday afternoon at the division’s central office.
The impact of the school closures will be felt by hundreds of families, as Webster Niblock student enrolment sits at 174 students and Southview at 137, all of whom will be transferred and absorbed by nearby schools in the fall.
The decision came down to several factors, including costs, a downward trend predicting 430 fewer student enrolments over the next 10 years, as well as an opportunity to provide more resources to other schools and enhance educational programming.
Financially the school division will be able to save more than $7.9 million in deferred maintenance costs for each school, which can be used for capital maintenance needed at other facilities.
Additionally, the division will free up $500,000 in operating costs that can be reinvested into additional supports within the classroom.
Families of the two elementary schools were informed of the proposed school closure in November after the division said it was facing budget challenges keeping all 17 local schools operating optimally.
However, the idea to close the two schools stemmed from meetings with Alberta Education officials in October 2024 as the division began to analyze resources and spending to identify any opportunities of cost savings.
During this time MHPSD focused on ‘value scoping’ in three areas of the city, including the Southeast, North and on the Hill to evaluate elementary coverage in those areas.
Following a lengthy evaluation period that looked at enrolment, use of resources, modern learning spaces and other schools within proximity, both Southview and Webster Niblock were identified as posing the largest financial challenges to maintain.
As both elementary schools have enrolment below 200 students and are projected to decrease further, the division recommended to trustees to approve a motion to close both.
Trustees attended two public special meetings to hear from parents of schools in December. Feedback was collected at both events and processed by local private consultants, who followed a thematic analysis to identify recurring issues expressed by attendees.
Key concerns from parents included student relationships, belonging and social connections, staffing, supports, services, school capacity constraints, class sizes, process, communication and transportation.
In total the division received 99 online responses and collected feedback from 102 parents who attended the special meetings in person.
Speaking with parents at both public consultation meetings, the News reported most were disappointed with the decision to close both schools, however others express their desire to send their children to a larger school with more programming options.
Transferring students to other schools, officials have said, will improve access to subject specialists and special needs care, as well as provide more education options.
Wilson says the division is going to make efforts to ensure support staff familiar with the students are able to follow them during the amalgamation process.
“At the numbers that we currently have, if that continues to flow into the schools that they’d be designated to attend, then we would make sure that the supports follow the student, and so if they’ve been paired with a certain one throughout their previous education, hopefully the relationship piece of that EA wanted to move with that child to the new school.”
The closures shouldn’t have an impact on staffing levels within the division as they plan to move educators and staff to other schools within the division. Moving forward, school administration can now move along with the next part of the transition process and begin working with families to prepare for the new school year.
