BARRHEAD - The majority of respondents who took part in the Pembina Hills School Division ward review by filling out the online survey indicated they’re in favour of keeping the status quo of three wards, seven electoral subdivisions and seven trustees.
Approximately 91 people, or 62.3 per cent of respondents, preferred the current electoral system to the two other options presented.
Another 37 people, or 25.3 per cent, preferred the option where one ward would encompass the entire division and be split into four electoral subdivisions.
Two of these subdivisions would cover the towns of Barrhead and Westlock, while the other two subdivisions — Westlock North-South and Barrhead North-South — would cover their respective halves.
A total of six trustees would be elected from these four subdivisions: one each from the towns and two from each rural subdivision.
Only 18 people, or 12.3 per cent of all respondents, were in favour of the option where there would be one ward covering the entirety of Pembina Hills and two electoral subdivisions — Pembina Hills East and Pembina Hills West. From those two subdivisions, six trustees-at-large would be elected.
These findings are all contained within the What We Heard report put together by board chair Jennifer Tuininga and assistant co-ordinator of communications Pam Golden based on the responses received through the online survey that was offered on the division’s website from Jan. 15 to Feb. 10, as well as the presentations made by trustees at school council meetings during those four weeks.
Trustees reviewed that report during that Feb. 26 meeting at Pembina North Community School in Dapp and passed a motion to post it online.
When asked if they intended to make a decision that day, Tuininga said she was only looking for a motion to post the report publicly, as they had promised to do.
“I think people need time to go back and think about it, and if we look at a fourth option or a fifth option, we need time to go back and talk to our school councils too,” she said.
What they heard
The report notes that 114 people attended the presentations made by trustees at school council meetings from Jan. 15 to Feb. 3.
The highest turnout was at the Swan Hills School Council meeting Jan. 15, as about 30 people turned out for that meeting; however, trustee Kerry McElroy said he later learned that only a handful had children currently attending school. There were between five to 20 attendees at all the other meetings.
The report also states that 146 responses were received via the online survey. Sixty-four of those responses were submitted by people who attended the various school council meetings.
As indicated the report lists some of the comments made by respondents through the online survey.
“We thought it was important to keep the comments verbatim, so we didn’t do any editing of comments or change spelling (if words were misspelled),” Tuininga said.
In particular, Swan Hills residents were very vocal in insisting that they need their own trustee. There was some support for reducing the board to five trustees, but only if Swan Hills kept its rep.
One respondent stated, “Please keep in mind the fragile state of affairs the Town of Swan Hills is in. We cannot afford to lose any more resources from this area.”
Another respondent wrote that Swan Hills needs its own trustee because it is far from the other schools in the division and they have worked hard to provide their students with whatever they need to attain the best education.
“Sometimes we are overlooked, and I feel if we had a trustee to represent us, they can help us with our voice,” the person wrote.
Others stressed the point that Swan Hills is the only K-12 school in the division, which makes it unique.
Not all the respondents were from Swan Hills, however. Neerlandia parents put in a number of responses indicating that they felt it was vital for their school’s Christian program to be valued in the division.
“As a member of the Neerlandia community, I feel Christian education is an important fixture of our community. Trustees at large may not understand these values,” one respondent wrote.
Many others stressed the need for each community to be fairly represented, which seems to be why the third option with six at-large trustees was the least popular.
A number of respondents also expressed concern with reducing the board to six trustees, creating the potential for a split vote on a crucial motion. When a split vote occurs, a motion is defeated.
“I don’t think that the trustees should be cut back to an even number. In the event of a split vote, the fact that the item at hand gets discarded seems pointless and unfair to whoever put in the time and effort to bring said items forward,” one respondent wrote.
If anything, more parents were in favour of reducing the board down to five than six. However, they were still adamant about not losing the Swan Hills trustee.
“I understand the need to tighten purse strings, but you cannot lose individual representation to achieve this. Swan Hills must have a representative,” one person wrote.
A fourth option
Besides passing a motion to post the report to the division website, trustees also passed a motion to gather further input on a fourth option that was based on a suggestion by a parent at the Barrhead Elementary School council meeting on Feb. 3.
Under this option, the division would be split into six wards, with electoral subdivisions being dumped entirely. Two of these wards would cover the towns of Barrhead and Westlock.
The Westlock side of the division would be split into two more wards called Pembina Hills East Ward 1 and 2. Ward 1 would encompass Busby and Eleanor Hall School in Clyde, while Ward 2 would cover Pembina North Community School and the two Hutterite Colony schools, Sunny Bend and Pibroch.
On the Barrhead side of the division, there would be two wards called Pembina Hills West Ward 1 and 2. Ward 1 would include Neerlandia Public Christian School and Dunstable School, while Ward 2 would cover Fort Assiniboine School and Swan Hills School.
It should be noted that the idea of using Pembina Hills East and West ward titles was not made by the Barrhead parent who originally suggested this fourth option.
Tuininga said she did that herself because she wanted to emphasize that trustees represent the entire school division.
She said this option would make the wards more equitable in terms of population. Pembina Hills West Ward 1 would have 252 students and 5,389 residents, while Ward 2 would have 300 students and 3,782 residents. As well, it also takes into account some areas that are more sparsely populated.
“I did still have this option of dropping down to six (trustees), because in looking at how many students (have been lost) and schools that have closed since we were established in 1995, I still felt that was an area we need to look at,” Tuininga said.
The fourth option will be brought to school council meetings by the trustees over the next month.
Trustees did debate for a time whether or not to make a decision on the ward review at the April 8 meeting. However, trustees Wendy Scinski and Judy Lefebvre argued successfully against making a decision by that early deadline.
“If on April 8 we make a decision that we haven’t even mentioned to our public, how is that going to look?” Lefebvre asked.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting a timeframe on when we will have a decision,” added Scinski, noting that they have until Dec. 31, 2020 to select a new electoral ward structure.
