Meeting with the Minister

My neighbour, Teresa Johnson, has a meeting with Manitoba's Education Minister, Peter Bjornson, today in Winnipeg. She is one of the spokespeople who are trying to save the Ashern Early Years School. You might remember the photo of the wolf that Greg Johnson shot? Well, Teresa is his wife. These folks don't fool around.

Last year it was decided that the Early Years schools in both Ashern and Fisher Branch would close in 2009, and the Kindergarten to Grade 4 students would move to what we call "the big school." Last Monday, the education Minister brought forward a Bill that would prevent the future closures of schools in this province without ministerial approval first. Because the decision to close our school was made prior to January 1, 2008, the School Board can still close our school. Teresa, along with a group of Parent Advisory Council members are in Winnipeg today asking that the Minister amend the Bill, to give these schools one last fighting chance.

I won't go into all the reasons why these little schools should stay open and why little children should not be mixed in with older kids. That is so obvious it is hardly even worth discussing. I can't write much about the financials because I don't have all the facts and figures in front of me. But I've heard estimates that taxes will only go up by about $5 to $10 per household in the Division if those schools are kept open. A prediction of declining enrollment seems to be the issue, but so far, the enrollment has not declined. Doesn't it make sense to close a school if the enrollment declines, but to leave it open until the numbers go down and stay down for a period of years?

A few years ago I was back home in Ontario, travelling along the bus route I used to take to school. There were a number of boarded up schools in the older neighbourhoods. A Real Estate agent explained housing trends and how it relates to schools. New neighbourhoods are built and young families buy the houses and schools are built to accommodate all the children. As that community ages and the children grow up and move away, the neighbourhood turns into a retirement area and the schools close down. Eventually, those retirement areas will turn into young neighbourhoods again and new schools will be built. In the city, parents of young children have the option of moving to where there is a school. In rural Manitoba, we don't necessarily have that same option. And once a school closes here, it stays closed.

Right now, Ashern is being billed a retirement town. When I moved here in 1982, it wasn't. Ashern was filled with vibrant young people who built businesses and their children filled the schools. Those people are nearing retirement age, and some of them are at that stage of their lives already. Eventually, young people will own all these businesses again - it is happening already. The people working in all of the government offices, hospital, etc. will retire and they will be replaced by - you guessed it - young people.

As a person whose child is grown, it would be shortsighted and selfish of me to disregard the young parents in our community who are worried about their child's safety and quality of education. Children should be everyone's concern, and while this is not my issue to fight right now, life does have a way of coming full circle. Hopefully I'll be a grandparent someday. And regardless of where my grandchildren live, I hope that they will be afforded a safe, wholesome educational experience. It's the decision makers of today who are deciding the future of children who aren't even born yet.

And that's why Minister Bjornson's Bill is so very important. He has the foresight to know that not everyone has foresight.

Good luck to Teresa and all the parents who are sticking their necks out to keep the Early Years schools in our communities open. It's a fight worth fighting and they are the right people to do it.

Tomorrow: I'll talk with Teresa about how the meeting went