South-end school closures enter next phase

Dr. D.W. Penner School in St. Vital should remain open — at least for the time being.

That was the recommendation of the school review committee’s final report to the Louis Riel School Division on March 31.

The committee also requested that a broader scale assessment be done before any decisions are made.

“The committee wants the school division to look at the school community as a whole rather than choosing schools by arbitrary numbers, based on guidelines that are 20 years old,” said parent Anne Ateah.

The report suggests that Dr. D.W. Penner remain open for the 2008-’09 school year and that Minnetonka, Darwin and Victor H.L. Wyatt schools be factored into the assessment.

“Any school closure would affect the other three schools in the area so it is only fair to take all of them into account,” parent Jill Kosowan said.

The report recommends that once a broader assessment takes place one school should be closed, with the possibility of a second at a later date, due to declining enrolments.

The two St. Vital schools that have been identified in the report as anchor schools — which should be exempt from closure — are Darwin and Victor H.L. Wyatt.

The committee identified the schools’ locations, size and capacity, programming, transportation and operational costs as the basis for its rationale.

Other possible school closures

The school review committees for Archwood, Marion and Henri-Bergeron schools recommended that amalgamation is the best way to deal with declining enrolments.

The report from the school review committee for Henri-Bergeron suggests north St. Boniface can only sustain one French Immersion school.

It recommends that the French Immersion students at Henri-Bergeron combine with those at Ecole Provencher, with one exception.

The committee would like to see the 50-50 program at Ecole Provencher phased out because of concerns it has about how such a program may affect French-language ability.

The review committees for Archwood and Marion schools would like to see the amalgamation of the schools’ English programs to take place at either Marion or Henri-Bergeron.

The committee reports are now in the hands of LRSD superintendent Terry Borys, who will present his recommendations to the board in a public meeting.

“The board has asked me to review the reports and give them my thoughts on them as they pertain to be educationally correct and their financial implications,” Borys said.

The LRSD board of trustees will vote on the recommendations May 27.