Four options in front of board of trustees tonight on fate of Stuart Wood elementary

Decision expected before end of current school year

NEWS/ SCHOOLS — The future of Stuart Wood elementary school probably won’t be decided tonight but it should be decided by the end of the school year, superintendent of schools Terry Sullivan said today.

Sullivan told The Armchair Mayor News the report going to tonight’s board of trustees meeting fulfills a commitment made at a public meeting March 27 to bring back a report that takes public input into consideration.

“All I want to do tonight is present it,” Sullivan said, adding that he would hope the board makes a decision by the end of the school year even though Stuart Wood’s closure wouldn’t take effect until July 31, 2016 with its students moving to Beattie that September.

The report going to the board tonight presents four options: leave everything the way it is; leave Stuart Wood as it is and move students from Beattie to John Peterson; renovate Stuart Wood and move students from Beattie to John Peterson; or renovate JP and move Stuart Wood students to Beattie.

Under the fourth option, Stuart Wood would be returned to the City, which owns the building.

Sullivan’s report says leaving everything the way it is would result in a “substandard” facility at Stuart Wood. The fourth option, closing Stuart Wood, would provide “a better facility of the children at Stuart Wood now and going forward.”

While the prospect of closing Stuart Wood has gained the most attention, it’s part of a larger scenario of school boundary changes to deal with shifting populations. District administration wants to consolidate Beattie School of the Arts K-12 into one building at the JP campus on 9th avenue and relocate staff and students from Stuart Wood to the Beattie location on McGill Road.

Trustee Annette Glover said she’s reserving her decision until she’s heard discussion of the options at the board table. “I’m totally up in the air,” she said.

The board’s last meeting of the school year is July 7.

The options as stated in the report are:

Option 1 — Leave everything the way it is.

The result would be a substandard facility at Stuart Wood which would continue to diminish the quality of program the district is able to offer children at Stuart Wood now and in the future. The students at Beattie School of the Arts Elementary would remain at McGill and the previously approved plan for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 fine arts school would be abandoned. As the secondary cohort continues to decline the district would be left with an under-utilized building at John Peterson.There would be no additional school district expenditures required.

Option 2 — The board could leave Stuart Wood as it is and move the students from Beattie to John Peterson.

This would require renovation to the John Peterson building to accommodate the elementary students from Beattie. This would require an expenditure of approximately $1.2 million. This would leave the Beattie building on McGill Road empty and a substandard facility at Stuart Wood. It would achieve the objective of having a K to 12 fine arts school in one location.

Option 3 — The board could renovate Stuart wood to try and bring it up to a more modern standard and move the students from Beattie to John Peterson.

This would require renovations to John Peterson and to Stuart Wood. The renovations to Stuart Wood and John Peterson taken together would be approximately $4.2 million to $5.2 million and would be beyond the resources of the school district to accomplish alone. Beattie McGill would be left empty. It would achieve the objectives of creating a Kindergarten to Grade 12 fine arts school and would improve the facility at Stuart Wood. However, many of the program challenges with that facility would remain and would be more compounded as the demands and complexity of the education program increase in the future.

Option 4 — John Peterson would be renovated, Beattie McGill students would move to a renovated John Peterson and the students from Stuart Wood would move to Beattie. Stuart Wood would would be returned to the City.

This option provides a better facility for the children at Stuart Wood now and going forward. It realizes the vision for a Kindergarten to Grade 12 fine arts school in one location and it removes a substandard education facility from our inventory. In addition, the renovations to John Peterson are realistic for the school district to fund even with the recent provincial changes to capital funding for school districts. It is the best use o fscarce school district financial resources. This option would still appear to be the best option for accomplishing the educational objectives of the school district.