QUESNEL!SCHOOL!DISTRICT!! SCHOOL FACILITY OPTIONS
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QUESNEL SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL FACILITY OPTIONS INTRODUCTION Issues and Challenges • Projections indicate that SD28 enrolment will continue to decline for at least another five years and then stabilize for about 15 to 20 years. • Many schools are currently operating significantly below building capacity and will continue to experience declining enrolment. • This situation creates a number of challenges: • Cost per student is higher in underutilized schools thereby reducing the effectiveness of the available funding for all schools. • Smaller schools cannot support a full range of program offerings and services, making it difficult to provide a comparable quality of services in all schools. • Some schools are in poor condition and should be replaced but it is difficult to get capital funding approved when schools are underutilized. • The District’s enrolment-based funding will continue to decline making it necessary to reduce staffing, facilities, and/or programs to avoid running a deficit (as legally required). Planning Assumptions • Given these challenges, “do nothing” is not an option. • Alternate Education is a necessary service and will continue to be offered in the District. • Wells and Nazko Elementary Schools are not included in this study. Strategic Objectives In order to cope with the issues facing the District, ongoing adjustments will be required. The goal remains to find a way of making these adjustments in the manner that best serves the students and the community. Based on discussions at the first World Café and subsequent analysis, the following strategic objectives have been established: • Allocate resources to provide all students with the best quality education that is feasible within the available funding. • Ensure that all students have viable access to music, library, and learning services. • Ensure that all students have equitable program choice opportunities. • Allocate budget and resources among schools in an equitable manner. • Ensure that students are accommodated in safe and healthy facilities. • Consider travel times for students. • Address buildings in poor condition as soon as possible. • Address potentially adverse impacts to the community. School Facility Options • Elementary Option 1: Close Ecole Baker, Carson, Parkland • Elementary Option 2: Close Red Bluff Lhtako, Kersley, Parkland • Elementary Option 3: Close Carson, Kersley, Parkland • Elementary Option 4: Close Ecole Baker, Kersley, Parkland • Secondary / Junior Secondary Consolidation Option Summaries On the following pages, each option has been summarized and evaluated relative to the above objectives by the consulting team. The discussions at the World Café and other feedback will help to refine these evaluations so that preferred options can be identified (may be a combination of features from different options).
Transcript of QUESNEL!SCHOOL!DISTRICT!! SCHOOL FACILITY OPTIONS
QUESNEL SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL FACILITY OPTIONS INTRODUCTION Issues and Challenges • Projections indicate that SD28 enrolment will continue to decline for at least another five years and then stabilize for
about 15 to 20 years. • Many schools are currently operating significantly below building capacity and will continue to experience declining
enrolment. • This situation creates a number of challenges:
• Cost per student is higher in underutilized schools thereby reducing the effectiveness of the available funding for all schools.
• Smaller schools cannot support a full range of program offerings and services, making it difficult to provide a comparable quality of services in all schools.
• Some schools are in poor condition and should be replaced but it is difficult to get capital funding approved when schools are underutilized.
• The District’s enrolment-based funding will continue to decline making it necessary to reduce staffing, facilities, and/or programs to avoid running a deficit (as legally required).
Planning Assumptions • Given these challenges, “do nothing” is not an option. • Alternate Education is a necessary service and will continue to be offered in the District. • Wells and Nazko Elementary Schools are not included in this study. Strategic Objectives In order to cope with the issues facing the District, ongoing adjustments will be required. The goal remains to find a way of making these adjustments in the manner that best serves the students and the community. Based on discussions at the first World Café and subsequent analysis, the following strategic objectives have been established: • Allocate resources to provide all students with the best quality education that is feasible within the available
funding. • Ensure that all students have viable access to music, library, and learning services. • Ensure that all students have equitable program choice opportunities. • Allocate budget and resources among schools in an equitable manner. • Ensure that students are accommodated in safe and healthy facilities. • Consider travel times for students. • Address buildings in poor condition as soon as possible. • Address potentially adverse impacts to the community. School Facility Options • Elementary Option 1: Close Ecole Baker, Carson, Parkland • Elementary Option 2: Close Red Bluff Lhtako, Kersley, Parkland • Elementary Option 3: Close Carson, Kersley, Parkland • Elementary Option 4: Close Ecole Baker, Kersley, Parkland • Secondary / Junior Secondary Consolidation Option Summaries On the following pages, each option has been summarized and evaluated relative to the above objectives by the consulting team. The discussions at the World Café and other feedback will help to refine these evaluations so that preferred options can be identified (may be a combination of features from different options).
Option 1: Close Ecole Baker, Carson & Parkland West Zone Changes
• Close Ecole Baker. • English Language students redistributed to nearby
Riverview and Voyageur. • French Immersion program moves to an elementary
school on the south side of Quesnel. South Zone Changes
• Close Carson Elementary. • Majority of students redistributed to Red Bluff Lhtako,
Dragon Lake, and Lakeview, with some students sent to Riverview and Voyageur.
North Zone Changes
• Close Parkland, with students redistributed to Barlow Creek (Parkland and Barlow Creek are in the same zone and are both very underutilized. Either could be closed without exceeding capacity. Of the two, Barlow Creek is in slightly better condition).
Cost Savings of $650,000 annually plus additional staff savings.
Pros Cons • Decommissions Ecole Baker, which is in very poor condition. • Moving French Immersion minimizes the elimination of ‘neighbourhood
schools’ as the program would host students from across the district. • Closing Carson minimizes disruption as students on the west side will
likely go to schools closer to home. • Many Carson students live in the West Zone, so the impact of
redistributing these students to West Zone schools is minimal. • Closes Parkland, which has one of the highest costs per student in the
district and is underutilized.
• Some West Zone students redistributed to the South Zone, which is farther away from central Quesnel.
West Zone�� Close Ecole Baker
�� English students move to Riverview, Voyaguer
�� French students move to South Zone
South Zone�� Close Carson
�� Most students redistributed to Red Bluff Lhtako, Dragon Lake, Lakeview
�� Some students move to West Zone
North Zone�� Close Parkland
�� Students move to Barlow
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Option 2: Close Red Bluff Lhtako, Kersley, Parkland West Zone Changes
• No Closures South Zone Changes
• Close Kersley Elementary, with students redistributed to another South Zone school. There may be some ripple effect, as some Lakeview and Dragon Lake students may need to be moved to Carson to make space for Kersley students.
• Close Red Bluff Lhtako, with students redistributed to Carson, Dragon Lake, and Lakeview. This redistribution will also have a ripple effect as Carson students are redistributed to Ecole Baker, Riverview, or Voyageur.
North Zone Changes
• Close Parkland with students redistributed to Barlow Creek.
Cost Savings of $500,000 annually plus additional staff savings.
Pros Cons • Closes Kersley, which has one of the highest costs per
student in the district and is underutilized. • Closes Parkland, which has one of the highest costs per
student in the district and is underutilized.
• There may be a ripple effect as some students may need to be moved to a South Zone school.
• Kersley students may face longer commute times. • Closes Red Bluff Lhtako, which has a relatively good facility condition
index.
West Zone�� No Closures
South Zone�� Close Red Bluff Lhtako
�� Students redistributed to Carson, Dragon Lake, Lakeview
�� Some Carson students move to West Zone
�� Close Kersley.
�� Redistribute students to closest elementary school
North Zone�� Close Parkland
�� Students move to Barlow
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Option 3: Close Carson, Kersley, Parkland West Zone Changes
• No closures South Zone Changes
• Similar to Option 2, close Kersley Elementary. • In this Option, however, Carson Elementary is closed
instead of Red Bluff Lhtako. The impact is similar - the majority of Carson students are accommodated at Red Bluff Lhtako, Dragon Lake, and Lakeview, with some students being moved west to Voyageur, Riverview, and Ecole Baker.
North Zone Changes • Close Parkland, with students redistributed to Barlow
Creek.
Cost Savings of $460,000 annually plus additional staff savings
Pros Cons • Closes Kersley, which has one of the highest costs per student in
the district and is underutilized. • Closes Parkland, which has one of the highest costs per student
in the district and is underutilized.
• There may be a ripple effect as some students may need to be moved to a South Zone school.
• Kersley students may face longer commute times.
West Zone�� No Closures
South Zone�� Close Carson
�� Students redistributed to Lakeview, Dragon Lake, Red Bluff Lhtako
�� Some Carson students move to West Zone
�� Close Kersley.
�� Redistribute students to closest elementary school
North Zone�� Close Parkland
�� Students move to Barlow
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Option 4: Close Ecole Baker, Kersley, Parkland West Zone Changes
• Close Ecole Baker. • French Immersion program moves to an elementary
school on the south side of Quesnel. • English Language students redistributed to nearby
Riverview and Voyageur. South Zone Changes
• Close Kersley Elementary, with students redistributed to another South Zone school. There may be some ripple effect, as some Lakeview and Dragon Lake students may need to be moved to Carson to make space for Kersley students.
North Zone Changes • Close Parkland, with students redistributed to Barlow
Creek.
Cost Savings of $610,000 annually plus additional staff savings.
Pros Cons • Decommissions Ecole Baker, which has one of the worst facility
condition indexes in the district. • Moving French Immersion minimizes the elimination of ‘neighbourhood
schools’ as the program would host students from across the district. • Closes Kersley, which has one of the highest costs per student in the
district and is underutilized. • Closes Parkland, which has one of the highest costs per student in the
district and is underutilized.
• Ripple effect of closing schools means that students may need to be redistributed out of schools that are not closing or catchments may need to be changed.
• Kersley students may face longer commute times.
West Zone�� Close Ecole Baker
�� English students move to Riverview, Voyageur
�� French Immersion students move to South Zone
South Zone�� Close Kersley
�� Students redistributed to Lakeview, Dragon Lake, Red Bluff Lhtako, Carson
North Zone�� Close Parkland
�� Students move to Barlow
Secondary/Junior Secondary School Consolidation In the upper grades, the options are much clearer. Correlieu Secondary School and Quesnel Junior Secondary School (QJS) are the only schools for grades 8-12. The largest issue in these grade levels is the condition of QJS. With the highest operations and maintenance (O&M) costs per student and the worst facility condition index in the district, QJS is past its service life and needs to be vacated. While Correlieu has a nominal capacity of 900 students, in the past the school has operated successfully at around 1,100 students using the portables currently on the site. As shown in the table below, the total enrolment for Correlieu and QJS is expected to drop below 1,100 students next year and stay under that level for the next 15-20 years. For this reason, it is suggested that secondary and junior secondary schools be combined into the Correlieu building and the associated portables.
Year Total Secondary/Junior Secondary Enrolment
2015 1,209 2020 1,030 2025 1,059 2030 1,074 2035 1,115
In this scenario, it is recommended that QJS continue to operate as a ‘school-within-a-school’ to continue to realize the educational benefits of the middle years model. The operating budget savings for this school closure are about $290,000, mainly from the elimination of O&M costs and custodial staff. In addition to these savings, closing QJS will eliminate the need for capital maintenance in the future, and provide a safer building for students.
