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Vol. 15, No. 25, Wednesday, May 20, 2020 www.LamontLeader.com
Andrew Devastated Second Andrew School closure leaves community feeling helpless BY JANA SEMENIUK One year since losing their high school program due to consistently low enrolment, K-9 Andrew school families were dealt an unexpected blow when they received an email from Elk Island Public Schools superintendent Mark Liguori informing them that the junior high program would be removed from Andrew school effective June 30, 2020. Grades in the school will be reconfigured as K-6. In an 8-1 vote by Elk Island Public School trustees on May 14 the fate of Andrew’s junior high program was sealed. Some parents felt surprised and angry at the decision, worrying that a complete school closure may be imminent. “What surprises me is there was zero consultation. As well, there was an impression that the school would have three years to turn things around,” said Andrew resident and parent Heidi Andruchow. “It was like they tried (to close the junior high program) last spring (with the high school program) and got push back then said they will just do it this spring anyway.” Andruchow has one grade five child and two other pre-school children at home. She attended Andrew school growing up and her father was also a graduate. “I fear Andrew school has the same future as Willingdon school (which closed in 1992) and it’s heartbreaking,” said Andrew resident and parent Janell Yaremie. “I am scared to think of what will happen in two to five years.” Yaremie was forced to place her son in a school in Vegreville after the Andrew high school program was shut down last year. She admits her son is doing very well in his new school, but is sad with the loss of a family tradition. “My husband and his family had their roots in Andrew school. We
Andrew parent Jodie Calfat stands in front of a sign with her two children and several other Andrew families opposed to the recent closure of Andrew's junior high program. Once a K-12 school, Andrew lost their high school program last year and most recently lost their junior high program due to low enrolment. Andrew is now a K-6 school. looked forward to our children having the same legacy,” she said. Jodie Calfat and her husband first moved to Andrew from Edmonton in 2006 before having children. She said she was excited at the prospect of her children remaining in the same school through every grade. “I went to a high school with a graduating class of 500 students,” she said. “I was thrilled that Andrew school was kindergarten right through to grade 12.” Upon learning of the recent closure, Calfat felt devastated and distrustful of the school board. “They made decisions without talking to parents. They did it for the high school, but not the middle school. We are so deeply upset by what they have done. It feels like they will eventually close Andrew school and kill Andrew” she said. “I am unsure of what we will do for our children.” In addition to local parents Andrew town mayor Sheila Lupal was equally devastated by the loss. “As mayor I am very disappointed in the lack of effort displayed by EIPS to increase enrollment at Andrew school over the past years. It seems to me that EIPS is concentrating on larger
more urban schools,” said Lupal. “Losing our high school last year was a devastating hit to our whole community. Losing our junior high is even more of a blow.” Records show EIPS engaged the public with six discussion groups held from Oct. 2018 to Mar. 2019 which gathered feedback from students, the community, staff and elected officials on the decision whether or not to close the Andrew high school program. EIPS trustee board chair Trina Boymook acknowledged that hard decisions were made. “These are difficult decisions and I know it’s not what parents were hoping for,” said Boymook. “We’ve got a new funding formula that makes it very challenging. We’ve had to make a number of difficult decisions.” In Sept. 2018 there were 17 students enrolled in the Andrew high school program. Boymook said at the time, both junior and senior high were on the chopping block due to consistently low enrollment. “The original recommendation that came from the superintendent (last year) was for the junior and senior high (to be removed) but there was an amendment made by trustee Colleen
Holowaychuk for just the senior high (to be removed) and that amendment was approved,” said Boymook. “We were projecting for the number of junior high students to be approximately 18 -20, but in September we only had 10. We felt we could offer a quality junior high program with 20 students but it’s a different story when you only have 10.” Records show that in Sept. 2019, one student was enrolled in grade nine at Andrew school, seven in grade eight and two in grade seven. Records also show that 11 other students who reside in the Andrew school area were attending junior high programs in Vegreville, Mundare and Lamont in Sept. Holowaychuk was the sole opponent to the board’s decision to shut down the junior high program at Andrew school during the May 14 trustee meeting. Holowaychuk declined to comment on the decision. When asked if Andrew may be at risk of losing their school altogether, Boymook was hopeful this would not be the case. “I think we are confident we can provide a quality education for Kindergarten to grade 6, but I cannot speculate what a board of the future might do,” she said. “We have a fantastic school with great staff. We remain hopeful that families will register their kids in Andrew school.” Jr high school attendance boundaries in Andrew will be reconfigured where students will be designated to attend programs in either Vegreville or Lamont. Andrew school was originally built in 1957 and has capacity for 385 students. Data shows steady enrolment decline from 133 students in 2012 to 112 students in 2018. This past Sept, the first year after the high school program was shut down, enrolment was down to 76.