Category: News

Municipality of the District of Lunenburg as an Intervenor in Judicial Review 

What does intervenor mean – a procedure to allow a “non-party” to join ongoing litigation as a matter of right without needing the permission of the original litigants (GPACA).

Why would they intervene – GPACA requested that they intervene to join our efforts to overturn the closure decision of PRES by SSRSB. But they agreed for a number of reasons – closing rural schools deprives communities and discourages families from staying (or coming) AND closed school buildings are inherited by the Municipality who have to cover remediation and disposal costs which can reach up to $1,000,000 – money that could be invested in other priorities for their residents.

How does it help us – we were advised by our lawyer that having an elected body support our appeal would be helpful. This was not an easy decision for the Municipality to take such a stand and they did not enter into it lightly but we as a community and community organization truly appreciate the principled leadership they have shown on this issue. They continue to solicit public comment and are hosting two public meetings on the importance of rural schools (July 19^th, 6:30PM, Lahave Fire Hall and July 24^th, 6:30 PM, Northfield District Fire Hall).

What are the financial costs for them to intervene – They have a lawyer on retainer who will work on this instead of something else, not a huge cost for them, but still a cost. However, the potential costs of not participating are much larger and would take the form of inheriting a shuttered building and long-term degradation of a community. Court costs for submitting a brief are minimal and they will not be paying our legal fees. They will direct their lawyer to prepare a brief and submit it to an ongoing court process. Their lawyer, J.C. Reddy, is very familiar with this issue and with the SSRSB.

Sometimes court costs are awarded and in those cases, the “losing litigant” (which would not be MODL in any case) has to pay these document-filing costs which are minimal compared to legal fees – which are not awarded. We have no liability to pay SSRSB’s legal fees and MODL has no responsibility to pay ours.

MODL pays $800,000 EVERY MONTH to SSRSB and has no say in how this money is spent. This is their largest expenditure and they are hugely impacted by decisions made at this level, including importantly – school closures.

 

 

We are happy to share that the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) has announced they will step in as an Intervenor during the judicial review process!

“Building strong communities that appeal to families and businesses is critical to the success of rural municipalities, and we feel strongly that closing rural schools is counter-productive to this goal,” Bolivar-Getson said.

You can read more HERE from Lighthouse Now and see the MODL press release HERE.

 

 

From 2013:

“The South Shore Regional School Board has confirmed Hebbville Academy cannot reasonably accommodate students from both Pentz and Petite Riviere elementaries.”

What circumstances have changed such that the current SSRSB feels that closing both Pentz/Petite and sending the kids to Hebbville is now a viable solution? From 2013, the previous Superintendent said (with regards to closing both schools and sending them to Hebbville):

“I believe that’s not a configuration that we would ever bring forward to the board for consideration.”

She then followed up to clarify that the study committees never studied the scenario in which both schools close:

“So I do think it’s safe to say that option was not detailed in the reports because it was not considered a viable option.”

The board chair at that time was also Mr. Payzant. The article is worth reading in its entirety for further insight into the position of the board at the time of the motions.

Below is the full article reprinted with permission from LighthouseNOW. Thanks to https://lighthousenow.ca for generously allowing this article to be shared.

January 3rd, 2013

Schools under review for possible closure

by Stacey Colwell

COUNTY – The South Shore Regional School Board has confirmed Hebbville Academy cannot reasonably accommodate students from both Pentz and Petite Riviere elementaries.

“I think we can put that to rest,” said superintendent Nancy Pynch-Worthylake at a meeting in the Hebbville cafeteria last month.

Both Pentz and Petite are under review for possible closure through a formal school review process.

“It is numerically possible to close both schools and fit [their students] on this campus,” explained Ms Pynch-Worthylake.
However, she noted that would mean all Primary to Grade 2 students, and some of the Grade 3s, would attend classes in the annex, and all others up to Grade 9 would be in the main building.

“I believe that’s not a configuration that we would ever bring forward to the board for consideration.”

In addition, Ms Pynch-Worthylake said the committees which are studying the issues presented in previous impact assessment reports were under the impression one of the two schools could close and its students go to the Academy, but
not both.

“So I do think it’s safe to say that option was not detailed in the reports because it was not considered a viable option.”

Director of operations Steve Prest added moving students from both schools to the Academy would also result in the displacement of several programs there, which was another factor in the recommendation.

Impact assessment reports by Deloitte Inc. determined Hebbville’s Grade 6 to 9 building could accommodate an extra six classrooms, or approximately 150 students, if it sacrificed space being used for regional board services, an after-school program, a fitness centre and a games room.

Currently, there are 180 students in the Primary to Grade 5 annex, 98 at Pentz and 88 at Petite. By 2016, those numbers are expected to decrease to 167, 83 and 79, respectively.

According to Deloitte, by closing Pentz and moving its students to Hebbville, the board would save an estimated $159,000 annually. Doing the same with Petite Riviere would result in savings of about $102,000 per year. Closing the Hebbville annex would save approximately $105,000.

In addition, depending on what the board ultimately decides, Deloitte determined the following short-term capital requirements may be necessary:

• About $150,000 to renovate the Grade 6 to 9 building to accommodate younger students.

• Between $28,000 and $54,000 to maintain Petite.

• Between $23,000 and $49,000 to maintain Pentz.

Long-term capital costs to keep the schools open were estimated to be $790,000 for Pentz, $785,000 for Petite and $1.15 million for Hebbville elementary.

Closing Pentz and sending the students to Hebbville would reportedly add an additional 20 to 30 minutes of bus time for students, and some would be on the bus a maximum of 50 minutes. Travel time would also increase for Petite students, with a maximum time on the bus of up to an hour.

Deloitte said building a new Primary to Grade 5 facility for students from the three schools in question would cost the provincial government a minimum of $12.9 million.

The status quo is also an option for the board.

Study committees, essentially comprised of each school’s advisory council, are currently preparing formal reports in response to Deloitte’s impact assessments.

After those are complete, following at least one public hearing, the governing board must make decisions about the outcome of the entire review process by the end of March.

On Tuesday, April 4th, 2017 P.E.I. Premier MacLauchlan announced his government would not support a Public Schools Branch recommendation to close St Jean’s Elementary in Charlottetown and Georgetown Elementary in Kings County.

See the full story here.