Trustee fact sheet

Rossland A Fact Sheet on Rossland Schools Enrollment at a Glance - 2011/12 MacLean (K-5): 239 RSS: (6-12): 305

Increase at MacLean over 2010/11 20 Students (not including new FTEs created from incorporating full-day kindergarten). A new division has been added at MacLean in each of the last two years due to increased enrollment.

Did you know?

• If the grade 6s and 7s were added into MacLean’s enrollment it would be at 322 students and would have the second largest elementary school enrollment in the district, in the second smallest building.

• School District 20 projects that enrollment at MacLean will grow every year at least until 2015/16.

• The MacLean StrongStart program has over 100 children registered and new people arrive on a weekly basis. It is the highest attended StrongStart program in the district.

January 2012

MacLean Elementary is already full – with K-5!

M

acLean Elementary has the smallest elementary school building in the district, with the exception of Castlegar Primary, and has the least amount of space per student.

District elementary school square meters per student (based on Sept 30, 2011 enrollment) Average: 11.60 sq. m./student (includes existing portables) Highest (Webster): 17.65 sq. m./student Second Lowest (Glenmerry): 9.69 sq. m./student Lowest (MacLean with K-5 only): 8.98 sq. m./student MacLean with K-7 and no portables: 6.69 sq. m./ student MacLean with K-7 and one portable: 6.96 sq. m. per student. (Even if there were room on the small playground for three portables, there would still only be 7.52 sq. m./student – far less than any school in the district).

If the grade 6/7 students were returned, not only would MacLean be extremely crowded, it is not clear where they would be placed, or how future growth would be accommodated: • Spaces in MacLean Elementary not utilized as classrooms: Library, Gym, Computer Lab, StrongStart (not classroom sized), Learning Assistance Room (not classroom sized).

• Number of potential classrooms at MacLean Elementary: Zero.

• Number of student bathrooms at MacLean Elementary: One per gender.

• Schoolyard size at Maclean Elementary: 1.1 hectares (smallest in the district). Glenmerry has four portables, but also has 2 hectares of land.

• Schoolyard size required by Ministry of Education when MacLean was built: 1.6 hectares (and the reason the rooftop play area was made).

• Maximum capacity of MacLean in 2011/12 if grade 6/7 students were returned: 102%.

• Average capacity of MacLean in 2011/12 if grade 6/7 students were returned: 113%.

(These numbers are based on the revised SD20 capacity of 310 for MacLean Elementary.

The Ministry capacity used for several years was only 232.)

Due to the limited space available at MacLean Elementary, making MacLean a K-7 is not consistent with the school district’s goal of maximizing the ability to educate the youngest learners in the students’ existing communities, and does not seem like an equitable solution.

“The MacLean site on its own is too small to accommodate the expected facilities for an elementary school of

its size and no viable options for significant expansion are available.... It does not appear feasible to contain the full grades K to 7 population of 268 students in 2012/2013 within the existing MacLean Elementary.”

—Project Identification Report (PIR) for RSS prepared by the architect that designed J.l. CrowE Note: Enrollment of K-7 is already at 322 — well beyond what was forecast for 2012/13.

A Fact Sheet on Rossland Schools

RSS provides excellent education and choice

R

RSS teachers and staff are attending Pro-D day sessions focussing on personalized learning, and are on-board and excited about the changes and how they will benefit students.

RSS offers diverse programming and addresses small class sizes The number of students who attended RSS from outside The program will be based on in innovative ways including offRossland in 2010/11 the concept of personalized timetable courses, multi-grading, 21st Century Learning, which and online courses with face-tofocuses on real knowledge for face instruction.

Most recent RSS ranking by th the Fraser Institute (of all long-term learning, rather than public high schools in BC) short-term recall. It will integrate It currently offers excellent band, drama, visual arts, Red Seal Chef and students into their community and digital media design programs. It also facilitate collaborative projectoffers the Red Mountain/BlackJack Sport Academy programs. based learning without neglecting foundations. RSS’s Personalized/Inquiry-Based Learning Proposal aligns with a RSS is at the forefront of exploring new educational models movement to more personalized learning around the world through its Personalized/Inquiry-Based Learning Proposal, and in BC as outlined in the new BC Education Plan. Full which is already being implemented in many RSS classrooms. implementation is expected at RSS in 2013/14. ossland Secondary School provides excellent education and choice for ALL students in the District.

57 5

RSS Required Capital Costs?

According to the most recent Ministry of Education VFA Facility Condition Assessment, the estimated costs of upgrades and repairs in School District 20 secondary schools in the next 10 years are: • Rossland Secondary School (RSS): $3 million • Stanley Humphries Secondary School (SHSS): $3.57 million However these are not required costs. The Facility Condition Assessment is a detailed wish list that includes everything needed to make all schools ideally maintained buildings. It is based on depreciation and includes the replacement of many items such as lighting, carpeting, kitchen cabinets, public address systems and windows that may not be necessary and are not likely to be undertaken by the district.

“Although RSS is an old building, it is solid and in good shape except for the need of a roof replacement in the near future.”

— School District 20 Planning for the Future 1 Note: most of the roof replacement has already been completed

A Fact Sheet on Rossland Schools

The costs of running RSS •

Annual 2009 utilities costs: SHSS: $179,133 Crowe: $139,991 RSS:

$132,968

(SD 20 Cost/Site Rollup)

(SD20 Cost per site Dec 2009 - 2009/10 enrolments)

• Costs per student Fulltime Equivalent (FTE): TMS: $9,805 RSS: $9,682 SHSS: $8,755 Crowe: $8,370 Glenmerry: $9,282 Webster: $9,016 MacLean: $8,208 Fruitvale: $8,196 Twin Rivers: $7,422 • On a cost per student FTE basis, RSS is the second highest and MacLean is the third lowest in the district. If the two schools were combined into the RSS building, the cost per FTE would be $8,770, which would put it in the middle of the costs per FTE of all the schools in the district.

• RSS’s costs are higher on a per student basis but lower on a per metre basis than Crowe or SHSS, suggesting that if it were a K-12 school it would have the lowest operating costs of all three schools.

The costs of closing RSS • Number of portables required to accommodate 200 RSS students at Crowe: 6 (Project Identification Report – PIR). Note: There are currently more than 200 grade 8-12 students at RSS. • Moving costs of portables: $280,000 (PIR).

• Operating costs of portables: unknown but expected to be long-term cost (PIR).

• Estimated annual costs of maintaining closed RSS building: $40,000/year (Based on SD20 estimate of maintaining a closed Webster).

• Additional operating costs of busing between 150 and 225 students to J.L.Crowe, including staffing, maintenance and fuel: unknown (but the Facilities Report estimated $20,000, which seems low).

• Capital costs of additional buses: unknown (new school buses can cost between $75,000 to $120,000).

• Loss of student FTE funding to district as Rossland parents move or homeschool: Substantial (Rossland Parent Survey). 45.3 per cent of respondents stated they would consider moving from Rossland to another similar alpine community if K-12 was not available within the community.

School District 20 has closed a larger percentage of schools in the last ten years than any district in the entire province, but is only the 15th fastest declining district with respect to enrollment. Districts such as Boundary, Revelstoke, Sunshine Coast, Prince Rupert, Qualicum and Arrow Lakes are all declining in enrollment faster than our district. Boundary, Sunshine Coast and Qualicum have closed no schools in the last 10 years. Revelstoke and Arrow Lakes have closed one each. Prince Rupert has closed three. SD20 has already closed nine in the last 10 years, and at least five others since amalgamating with the Castlegar district in 1996.

The Vancouver School Board has decided to close no schools until at least 2012, because they believe that schools represent the “heart of the community and soul of the neighbourhood.” The moratorium on closing schools is designed to give all parties, including the public, time to map out additional, more comprehensive uses of schools within their immediate neighbourhoods.

The Facilities Report maximum , minimum and Future Planning for theschools within preferred capacity ranges e

Criteria #7 - Provid Fit analysis May 12, 2010 # 1

Description Status Quo

Fits / Does not Fits

at Glenmerry

8-12, Alt programs TMS K-7, Crowe Glenmerry closed, 8-12 plus Alt programs 2A Webster and TMS K-7, Crowe plus Alt programs Glenmerry closed, K-7, Crowe 8-12 Glenmerry 2B Webster and renovated TMS Alt programs at Glenmerry closed, K-7, Crowe 8-12, 2C Webster and renovated TMS at Glenmerry Glenmerry closed, 7-12, Alt programs 2D Webster and TMS K-6, Crowe Glenmerry closed, 7-12 plus Alt programs Glenmerry 2E Webster and TMS K-6, Crowe Alt programs at Glenmerry closed, K-6, Crowe 7-12, 2F Webster and renovated TMS plus Alt programs closed, Glenmerry K-6, Crowe 7-12 2G Webster and renovated TMS Glenmerry closed, 2H Webster and JLC rented facility Alt programs at Alt programs at (6-8), south end JLC, south end 3A Middle Schools JLC and RSS at at JLC (6-8), Combine end Alt programs 3B Middle Schools JLC, RSS and south at JLC (6-8), Combine end Alt program south 10-12, 3C Middle Schools 10-12 JLC, RSS and SHSS combined, SHSS 3D Jr High (7-9), end Alt programs JLC & RSS & south 3E Jr High (7-9), RCS still K-7 JLC but FES and and RCS still K-7 Alt programs at at JLC but FES K-7 (6-8), south end end Alt programs FES and RCS still 4A Middle Schools in rented facility, JLC, RSS and south (6-8), Combine K-7 south end Alt programs 4B Middle Schools FES and RCS still JLC, RSS at JLC, (6-8), Combine Alt program at JLC, and RCS still K-7 10-12, south end 4C Middle Schools at JLC but FES JLC, RSS and SHSS end Alt programs 4D Jr High (7-9), JLC, RSS and south Combine 4E Jr High (7-9), 5

K-8 and 9-12 schools

6

RSS K-12, MacLean

7A 7B 7C 8

closed in rented facility end Alt programs in rented facility JLC 10-12, south 8-9, close RSS, south end Alt programs RSS, JLC 10-12, MacLean K-7, TMS Alt programs TMS 8-9, close plus south end MacLean K-7, renovated TMS 8-9, close RSS, JLC 10-12 MacLean K-7, renovated RSS K-9, close

fit

Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Fits Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Does not fit Fits Does not fit Does not fit Fits Fits

MacLean, JLC 8-12

appendix page 1

T

he Facilities Report is a School District Analysis that ranks 17 school configuration options based on 19 criteria and based on the top ranked option, contains a Suggested Facilities Plan that includes the closure of RSS by 2013/14.

The Facilities Report contains a substantial number of technical errors including a lack of independent criteria, double and triple counting of some data and faulty conversion of data into scores, which exaggerates the differences between the options disproportionately. These errors make the ranking of options questionable. See the Facilities Report Technical Analysis for more details.

The most recent Facilities Plan released by SD20 staff in June 2011 recommends K-12 in RSS, as do Planning for the Future 1 from May 2008, Planning for the Future 2 from November 2009, and the RSS Project Identification Report from May 2009.

The Facilities Report from Fall 2010 is the only document that recommends closing RSS.

A fact Sheet on Rossland Schools K-12 Schools are great Evidence from K-12 schools in BC and in the US suggests that K-12 schools can foster greater community involvement, above average achievement, and greater opportunity for students to experience a diverse array of specialist teachers.

Rossland parents have already met with principals from K-12 schools in BC to discuss how they operate, and NOL committee members have toured the Kaslo K-12 school.

Rossland parents are confident in our school staff’s ability to create an exceptional school with the involvement of our entire community.

Did you know?

The Francophone School District (School District 93) has publicly expressed an interest in purchasing MacLean School. The Ministry of Education allows the sale of schools for educational purposes.

K-12 is an accepted option

N

umber of people that came to School District 20’s Planning for the Future Community Focus Group meetings in March 2011: Castlegar: 14, Trail: 14, Rossland: 200. Rosslanders at that meeting were unanimously in favour of K-12 in one building. The community understands that the school board is in a difficult financial position, and wants to work with the district to achieve the best solution.

Meetings about schools in Rossland are always extremely well attended. The community cares about its schools, and is very involved. K-12 education is even entrenched in our OCP and Strategic Sustainability Plan. It is very important to Rosslanders that K-12 education stay in the community, as it has for over 100 years.

2011 enrollment of some of the K-12 schools in the province • JV Humphries K-12 (Kaslo): 238 • Lucerne K-12 (New Denver): 84 • Crawford Bay K-12: 86 • WE Graham School (Slocan): 57 • Rossland K-12 with today’s numbers would be: 544 There are 26 public K-12 schools across BC, in communities as small as Telegraph Creek (34 students) and as large as Fort Langley (907 students) and Kamloops (448 students).

There are also a substantial number of independent (private) K-12 schools.

Working toward K-12 at RSS A substantial amount of work has already been done in Rossland to prepare for K-12 at RSS. The community has applied for and received a grant totalling $100,000 to potentially support InquiryBased Learning at RSS and a grant totalling $19,000 for a new playground surface at RSS. The School District has already been awarded $50,000 in funding for a new playground at RSS. Committees representing the community and PACs at all three schools have been established to help facilitate the transition and establish an appropriate playground at RSS.

The cost savings of closing MacLean is $218,500 (PFF2 Nov 2009), and a minimum of 25% of the proceeds of the sale of the building can be put toward SD20 capital expenditures.

The RSS floorplan has been reviewed by one of the committees, the architect who designed Crowe, and RSS administrators to try to determine how best to accommodate K-12 in one building.

PFF2 suggests that MacLean can be sold for $900,000 and the entire amount can be added to the district’s capital reserves.

Rossland Schools Notebook is published by the Neighbourhoods of Learning (NOL) Committee. The NOL Committee is made up of representatives from the MacLean, RSS and École des Sept Sommets PACs, members of the Visions for Small Schools Society board, a Rossland City Council representative, and a Rossland Chamber of Commerce representative. The NOL Committee is a Committee of the City of Rossland and has received funding support from the City of Rossland and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) School Community Connections grant.

The community of Rossland is ready to work with the district to make K-12 in one building a reality.

Website: vssrossland.wordpress.com Email: rosslandvss@gmail.com