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With enthusiasm, they asked to bring seaweed…

It’s impossible to sum up all the ways that Petite School benefits the children of our community in a way that those who don’t share our values can appreciate. However to those who are fighting the good fight. These are my children two of whom attend our school and one who will in the next school year. I disliked school from the very start… My children who think very similar to myself enjoy their school day. In a large part due to the wonderful teachers and volunteers who make up our school. They take great pride in their studies. With enthusiasm, they asked to bring seaweed from the local beach to the school garden. A garden that they all have been involved in before and during their enrollment in the school. Not only is our school viable in numbers it has values that can not be measured.

Tristan K.

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This is what happens at a small rural school…

myboys

We were invited to ‘upcycling day’ and arrived at a gym filled with craft supplies, toilet paper tubes, plastic containers, tissue boxes, etc. where the entire school worked on their various inventions. Together.

They patiently waited in line asking politely for the community volunteers to hot glue the base to their rocket. They helped each other brainstorm ideas. They shared materials. They created whatever their imagination allowed….microphones, spaceships, robots!

They learned about science, art, math and more. At the end, they all worked together to tidy the gym and sort the items for recycling.

It was amazing to see over 75 kids playing and working together, without a moment of chaos.

This is where my boys need to spend their elementary school days.

Close to their home. Close to their community. 

Tara J.

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I don’t have words…

I don’t have words to express how concerned I am about the potential closure of this school. Nor do I have words to express my frustration with the school board.

Over the last 15 years I have watched the community of Petite and surrounding area grow as young families move here. Two years ago I decided to buy a house here, and the school was a major factor in that decision. My husband went there, and my daughter will start in 2020. Where else does a horse deliver seaweed to fertilize the community garden tended by children along the banks of a river? I already use the school twice a week for a play group and an exercise class. There is an obvious baby boom happening here, and projected numbers for the school are increasing. It is a community school in the truest sense of the word, and a cornerstone of this vibrant community.

I wonder who is being served by the School Board’s refusal to revisit (or rescind) their motion to close. The process has been fraught with conflict of interest. The community wants the school to stay open. The Government wants the school to stay open – they have continually committed $6 million for a renovation. The children will benefit from the small school environment.

So Elliot Payzant’s comment that the SSRSB Administration will save money is what this is really about. The only winner is the bottom line. A few million saved over a number of years, on the backs of our children and to the detriment of the whole community. A legal opinion is just that – an opinion. This school board could gain so much goodwill from the community if they would revisit their motion to close. Unfortunately it seems that the board being “right” is more important than the job they were elected to do – serve the best interests of their constituents. True leadership is the ability to admit when a mistake has been made, and to take steps to right that mistake.

I am disgusted with how this is playing out.

Leitha H.

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Petite School Area Student Population Growing

Dear Editor:
Reporter Michael Lee did a good and thorough job explaining the complex situation concerning South Shore Regional School Board (SSRSB) and Petite (PRES) and Pentz (PES) Schools. Unfortunately, his figures on school enrollment are based solely on a report SSRSB first revealed to the public at the February 22 meeting. Until then, the board’s own projections for PRES for the next four year’s forecast a 40% increase in enrolment, i.e.  83 (2017/2018);    88 (2018/2019);  92 (2019/2020);   98 (2020/2021). ((Source: Bridgewater and Park View Families of Schools, Binder for School Options Committee, 2015-2016, SSRSB))
These figures do not include young families with children that have moved into the area or women who have become pregnant in the last 6 months. (And anyone who has gone to the West Dublin Market lately will be aware of both these kinds of growth.)
Sadly the enrolment for Pentz is not projected to increase in the same time period. However if roughly half of Pentz students (those in the southern part of the catchment area, such as nearby Lahave and Dublin Shore) were to be sent to Petite Elementary, it would bring numbers to 113 (2017/2018);   118 (2018/2019); 122 (2019/2020);  128  (2020/2021)
This would mean a utilization of 85% of school space for PRES over the next 4 years.
Clearly, this is another good argument for the elected board to keep their word and request the $6 million offered to it from the Province for an Addition and Alteration to keep PRES open for this vibrant and growing community.
Phylis Price
Broad Cove
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Real leadership is putting aside your need to be right in order to do what is right.

Dear Board Members of the South Shore Regional School Board:

I am writing to you about the decision to close Petite Riviere Elementary School, and the devastating impact it will have on our children and our community.

I am writing to you to ask you to find a solution.

And I am writing to you to talk about leadership.

I moved here in 2015 because of the vibrant community that exists. In rural Nova Scotia, where young families are leaving in record numbers, Petite is a flourishing area where new families are choosing to build their lives. I chose to become one of those families, because I wanted my daughter – who is almost 18 months old – to grow up with a clan of kids she could belong to. I wanted her to attend a school where we know the teachers by name (already!). I wanted her to get her education in small classes, on a river, where a horse delivers the seaweed needed to fertilize the garden that is tended by the students.

This experience is unique, and something precious and attractive. I know it has attracted young families from all over Canada, because the value of a small community school is universal. As a result, there has been a baby boom in recent years. I personally know of 15 preschool aged children living within a 5km radius of my house. There are many, many more within the Petite catchment area. School enrollment is projected to rise to 98 students by 2020 – up to 130 including students from Pentz.

I have closely followed the saga of the decision to close Petite and Pentz schools. I understand your “legal opinion” suggests you can only act on the decision to close the schools, and can ignore the caveat that a new school must be built. I’ve listened to Mr. Payzant insist that the process to close the school cannot be stopped, and I’ve watched this community struggle to find alternative solutions over and over for the past four years, only to have each one turned down by the board. (For example, creating a HUB school, finding tenants, and other suggestions proposed by the SAC over the years.)

I have also read the report from Stantec, an independent review company, which states keeping either Pentz OR Petite open with renovations is best value option for the taxpayer. I have understood the Minister of Education has offered six million dollars, repeatedly, for an Addition and Alteration. And I have watched as parents and community members have contributed hours and hours of their time and money to try and find a solution to save the school that is the centre of our community.

Who is being served by the decision to close this school? Not the students, some of whom will have to be bused for up to an hour each way to attend Hebbville Academy, with larger classes. Not the taxpayers, who would be best served by an A&A as per Stantec’s report. Not the citizens, who voted for you to sit on the SSRSB to represent our best interests and protect our community schools. Not even the government is served by this decision – the Minister can clearly see that keeping this school open is in the best interest of everyone, and has OFFERED the money needed to make it happen. And you – Board Members – are not being served by this decision, as you will lose the support of the people who put you in that position.

Who is being served by this decision? The SSRSB Administration, and their commitment to the bottom line. The well being of our children and the very future of our community is being traded away for a small monetary saving – a saving that is negligible when you consider the added costs of bussing, and the cost to the Municipality (and us tax payers again) to deal with the surplus building.

I implore you to find a solution. Seek a second legal opinion. Consult with the Minister of Education. Rescind the contentious motion and start over. Mr. Payzant speaks as though there is no going back – he says the process has started and your hands are tied, as though you have pushed a boulder over a precipice and you can’t fight gravity. But there is no boulder. There is a motion. Which according to Robert’s Rules of Order, can be rescinded.

Now I would like to speak to you about leadership.

I know these decisions are hard to make, and once made – you want to stick by them. You want to say – they may be difficult, but we had to make hard choices and it’s for the best. You want to be RIGHT.

But real leadership comes in the form of being able to look at new information made available to you (funding available for an A&A, a growing school population in the coming years, the inability to get funding for a new school), and to change your viewpoint.

Real leadership is shown when you can say – we made a mistake, and we will take responsibility for that and we will fix it.

Real leadership is putting aside your need to be right in order to do what is right.

Simply put, if you close this school, you will kill this community. You have the power to do the right thing. Find the solution. We are all here to help you.

Sincerely,

Leitha Haysom, on behalf of my daughter, Scarlett

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There is nothing that can’t be changed given the will to do so…

Re-visiting the Petite Elementary School closure issue at the Petite Riviere Firehall on Feb. 20, I came away angry and frustrated.

The issue of closing Petite Riviere and Pentz Schools has been ongoing for at least four years. Nobody at the Feb. 20 meeting (there was no representation from the South Shore School Board) wanted to see the schools closed. No reason was provided why they should be, except that a motion passed to close them can’t be changed.

This is amazing. There is nothing that can’t be changed given the will to do so.

Petite Riviere School is predicted to increase in enrolment, qualifies for provincial upgrade funding and is in a large catchment area. Busing children for extra hours each day is not productive and the community is anxious to keep the school. Why is the school board so intent on closure?

Edward Young, Pleasantville

SOURCE

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Thoughts from a local family

Five years ago, we moved across the country from Victoria, BC to Lahave, NS. We came all this way for many reasons; but one of the biggest was so that our children could be part of a small, rural school.  My seven-year-old daughter attends Petite Elementary school where we are proud to say she has had wonderful support and experiences. Most impressively she gets to play in the extraordinary natural, wooded playground and grow a garden with her entire school. There are a small group of teachers, many dedicated parents and sixty or so lucky children who make this school a very special place. The kind of place worth moving across the country for, the kind of school that makes each child feel included and part of something very special.

If you have ever been to our school, you can feel how special it is when you walk in the door. The smell of warm toast and the sound of happy kids makes you want to be there. This is not just a school but a community hub, a place where families get together, where our rural surroundings don’t feel so far apart, and a place that reminds you that elementary school isn’t so bad after all.

Next year my youngest daughter will start school at Petite. Although she is a quiet, shy child she will be happy to start at Petite because it is a small and peaceful environment. She already knows half of her class and her teacher for next year. She knows most of the kids in her school, has worked in the garden, played on the playground, and been part of most of the events happening at her future school. Going to school is not scary for her as it’s part of her community already. This is why we moved here; So that she would not have to be shipped off to a school of 400 students and lost in the crowd.

With all the talk of school closures, I ask myself if the school board and the government know what kind of an impact they are creating on families like mine. I can think of at least ten other families with young children who have moved here in the past few years for reasons similar to mine.  Do you think we will stay? Will more families with working professionals, young children, and energy toward community make the move all this way like we did if there are no longer small schools? I think No, they will not. They will move to other communities where what matters to young families is heard. Where community hubs and strong community schools are flourishing, not being closed down.

I like to believe that Nova Scotia is a good place to live. That the South Shore is an empowered, creative, and supportive community for young families who have so much to give back to the community and in the building of a sustainable future. Unfortunately, with all that has been happening with the ongoing struggle to keep our vibrant small school open, I feel that we are being treated like we don’t matter down here. That no matter what we say or do, we will not be heard and that our school like so many others is being closed. Is this really all about saving money? What about all the other factors, like what is best for our kids and our community?

Let’s give it our all, let’s pull together to save our school and community, and let’s prove that we are indeed living in a wonderful part of the world where children, families, and communities do matter. Let’s show everyone that it is worth moving across the country for!

Jill Swaine

Lahave, NS

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Frustrated in Ottawa

Hi,
I’m a Nova Scotian living in Ontario currently, when I listen to what is happening in my home province it is very discouraging. How can a young family consider moving to NS when this is what’s happening in the heart of NS communities? This is so short-sighted – a rural area is thriving in Nova Scotia (how frequently does one see that at home!?) and a local school board is trying to close the only local school because they bungled the initial phrasing of a vote 4 years ago and is too proud or stubborn to correct it! I don’t understand their motivation – of course education would be much cheaper financially if it was centralized. That’s never the issue: children are our future – figuratively and literally and they need our care and support. Education and children’s wellbeing is not where NS should skimp on funding … there’s a couple boats I can think of that have had more priority! Is the Chair trying to impress someone in the treasury department? The minister of education says there is funding for the school’s renovation. The school board chair thinks a lawsuit would not be in the financial interests of the school board, why is he so intent on making it the only option to right his wrong? I give my complete support to the community group of school supporters who are standing up for what is right. It must be baffling for them that they even need to fight this guy and his clerical error. Nova Scotia politicians you need to step up and show leadership now!

Shaking my head in frustration,
Jo-anne Crisp