To the Honourable Minister Karen Casey, Minister of Education;
Minister Casey, I am writing to request that you look again into the intended closure of Petite Riviere Elementary School in Lunenburg County, and that you provide the guidance, leadership and authority of your office to reverse the decision.
I have lived in rural Lunenburg County since 2001 and am originally from the Kingston Peninsula, New Brunswick, a region not dissimilar to Petite Riviere. I did a Master of Environmental Design in planning and policy specifically because I wanted to work to protect the beauty, nature and way of life that is unique to the rural maritime provinces.
We are so lucky for what we have in rural Nova Scotia; for what has been built over time; for the incredible beauty and plentiful resources we share; for the structures and community hubs across the province that enable and sustain rural livelihoods and are the envy of tourists (some of whom come back to stay). But the exodus of young people from rural Nova Scotia, our declining population, and a lack of investment in or accurate assessment of necessary services for rural Nova Scotia make the future look a bit grim.
It certainly looks grim for Petite Riviere if the school, which is a focal point of the community and literal creator of community, is deemed unnecessary and allowed to close.
Churches were once the unifying structures and connectors essential for giving rural Nova Scotia communities a center and a heart. As church attendance has declined over the years, country churches have closed and will continue to close across the province – and church halls and the social coalescing that churches provided go with them. In 2017, closing a rural school that is a focal point of a community (as this one in Petite Riviere is) isn’t just closing a ‘school’. It isn’t just closing a building and (maybe) reducing County and Provincial education spending. In 2017, closing a school at the heart of a community is a lot more than that: it’s taking away the common thread and communal bond for being there.
Petite Riviere is a living and even exemplar rural community. I live across the river from Petite, I don’t have children and I am not personally invested in whether or not the school stays or goes, but I am writing this letter because I am tired of seeing decisions that diminish instead of encourage and support what people are trying hard to build. The community of Petite Riviere is like no community I have never seen. They welcome newcomers as if they have been there the whole time. When couples break up (as happens), they all seem to rally support for the family and help them get through it. They take care of each other’s kids after school. They organize and attend their own festivals, create their own entertainment opportunities, find grant money to build a community park where an old business had burned down, they support businesses that open up.
It honestly is like nothing I have ever witnessed or known of. They are in it together.
And the school. Because people live nearby and are invested in the school and community and their kids, the school garden gets taken care of, people are able to pick their kids up after school or they can get to someone else’s house until their parents get home from work. Many of the teachers live in the community and are directly invested in helping to sustain it. When a child is struggling or having behavioral problems, it is a community issue they take on. Again, it is honestly like nothing I have ever witnessed. It sounds like I am laying it on heavy here, but it’s honestly true. Petite Riviere is a community that keeps people from leaving, that people are drawn to and come back to and that people are working hard to build, and the school is one of the only public facilities the community has. They have a firehall, and a school.
I know that some rural schools must close. The diminishing population demands it. There just aren’t enough kids to keep them all open. When the Riverport School closed it was a loss, but the numbers were dwindling to none. It was unavoidable. But in this case, the assessment of necessity is off: demographics for Petite Riviere school are increasing and are projected to continue.
Why did the Board make the decision it made? It is hard to know, but I wonder if we are putting too much responsibility on School Boards? Having to decide school closures demands a wide range of skills and analysis and rural development expertise. I am not sure that decisions that are this far-reaching should be left on the shoulders of School Boards. I am not sure this one should have, which is the reason I am writing to you.
Closing this school will diminish and perhaps even destroy this growing community of young families, and that will be a loss for all of us. If you watched a movie of this story, you would be broken hearted at what this school means to people, and at the powers that be who have failed to weigh the importance of this small school to this particular rural community and the growth of the region.
Minister Casey, please require a review of the Board’s decision, or request directly that they reconsider. If not, the loss and the story will permeate this region and beyond. We need a hopeful story like what happened in PEI recently, instead.
Respectfully,
Wanda Baxter