This will prove to be a good test for SD57’s much-touted commitment to rural education. As the district will need to find ways to address the overcrowding in Prince George schools, the people of Mackenzie will demand that this commitment to rural schools be demonstrated in equal consideration given to our overcrowded elementary school. Preliminary enrolment for next year in Mackenzie is indicating even more students and worse overcrowding next year.

Our years of passively accepting the neglect of our schools are over; the people of Mackenzie haven’t forgotten the promises the trustees made to us during their election campaigns and we expect them to be honoured.

Perhaps they can use some of the empty space at the High School in Mackenzie for elementary students.????

The idea of moving seventh graders to the high school has been suggested Palopu.

Unfortunately this would isolate them in a school where they operate differently from the other students (i.e. grade 7 in one room all day with one teacher vs. grades 8-12 entering the halls and mixing with one another in classes throughout the day).

They would also be missing out on any outside educational experiences or cultural performances intended for their age group that are brought to the elementary school.

And finally there is no bus service to the high school, so the 7th graders who rely on the bus would lose this service as well (the bus service, I might add, was brought in to accomodate students who were previously attending our second elementary school that was closed 5 years ago and which SD57 continues leave vacant).

So while there is currently space at the high school, there are some significant drawbacks to sending the 7th graders there.

I read the article about overcrowding in some elementary schools as well as some high schools in school district 57. At the same time there are some elementary schools as well as high schools which are operating at less than capacity. I also assume that some are operating close to capacity … and next year might operate at even lower to capacity, at capacity or slightly over capacity.

All School Districts operate like that, not only in BC, but the rest of the country and the USA and the world.

It is an ongoing problem faced in rapidly increasing student populations, slowly receding school populations, etc. The problem of fixed infrastructure with changing demographics.

The solutions have been closing schools and lengthening travel and busing to underutilized schools, adding “temporary” portables to existing schools, temporarily adjusting class sizes upwards, building new schools.

Palopu made a suggestion, one which others seem to have already suggested. You, cross, shot it down for some, at first glance, valid reasons. However, you have not made another suggestion of how to solve the problem.

I very much agree that SD57 should do as several other school districts in BC have done. I made a previous post on another thread dealing with this issue to that effect. The SD57 can simulate that in the current mandate they have by creating one or more committees of the Board which specifically including representation from the rural areas. That should solve the present issue of inadequate representation.

As far as the enrolment and capacity issues, they are constant and I assume that they will be handled in the normal ways unless someone comes up with a better idea. Maybe somewhere, someone already has. Time for a bit of research, cross.

I appreciate what you are saying gopg2015.

I have made my views known to the SD57 board on a number of occasions and brought their attention to the overcrowding in my children’s school. At those times I have reminded them that we have a fully-built elementary school sitting vacant in Mackenzie that will require some maintenance to re-open (due to 5-years of neglect). The district has also been aware of the steadily rising enrolments here for the last several years but has failed to plan for this or included any mitigation measures in their capital plan (e.g. school expansion, portables).

None of these options are free but we owe it to our children to supply them with adequate educational facilities. I can and have made suggestions to SD57 but at the end of the day it isn’t my suggestions on this website that will fix the problems here and in Prince George. It will be successful planning and execution by the people whose job it is to lead our school system, the SD57 Board.