A decision taken by the Board of Education at their March meeting in combination with another decision taken two years ago is getting parents at elementary schools in the West Boundary pretty concerned.
Two years ago, faced with a continuing decline in enrollment numbers, the board cut the secretary hours at rural elementary schools to 25 hours per week.
But WBES Principal Brian Foy had the support of his teachers and Parent Advisory Council (PAC) to use school discretionary funding to top up those hours to 30 per week. Recently that pool of money has dried up and consequently the position is now reduced to the 25 hours.
That didn’t impress WBES PAC Chair Jodi Klein, who came before the Board’s April 10 meeting specifically to let the board know of the concerns that she and many parents have about the recent cut to the secretary’s hours.
“This is a huge safety issue. The secretary is the rock of the school,” said Klein. “She knows all of the kids, all of them are comfortable with her. She knows what class they are in, who their best friends are, what siblings they have and what turmoil is happening at home.”
Adding to the parents worry is the March approval by the Board of Education for a one-year pilot assignment that will see Brian Foy become the principal of West Boundary (WBES), Beaverdell, Greenwood (GES) and Midway (MES) Elementary Schools in September. Foy currently he teaches half time.
GES/MES PAC chair Pat Grouette also spoke at the school board meeting. Her major concern was the one-year pilot project.
She said relationships – student-to-principal, teacher-to-principal and parent-to-principal would all suffer. “There is no way one principal can have educationally impacting relationships with all parties concerned with there is a lack of interaction on a daily basis.”
She cited the principal’s increased workload and she called the lack of a person of authority in each school a problem, lawsuit or tragedy waiting to happen.
Board chair Teresa Rezansoff assured Klein that the trustees would take her concerns into consideration. “This is a pilot project and we will be watching and being careful,” she said.
Klein suggested this would be a good time to bring full-time secretaries back into the schools.
Grouette agreed, saying that her PAC would like to see the principal’s office supported administratively. “For safety it is important to have a presence in the school. But he needs to be supported administratively. That’s the big piece.”
Trustee Vicki Gee agreed that Foy should get more administrative support during the one-year pilot. “I see a lot of positives with Brian in the four schools. I see someone who can really work to bring those schools to working together. Collaboration between teachers – he’s a very innovating person.”
“I will be trying to get more clerical. I love the idea of what Brian could do between those four schools but I really think he needs more support,” pledged Gee.
Klein is also concerned that the current secretary at WBES is one of the two first aid attendants in the school (Brian Foy is the other). She said it is important that someone is there to answer phone calls from parents as well as from the Beaverdell teacher who may need to communicate with her administrator.
Another major issue for Klein is access to the school. Without the secretary at the desk she asks who will be there to monitor the door.
She said that she has talked to two families who may not register their children in Kindergarten because of these issues.
“Now, more than ever, with the news that our principal will be covering four schools, we need a full-time secretary,” declared Klein.
“The overall cost of keeping the secretary is minimal compared to the effect it will have on our school and children’s safety,” said Klein. She said the cost to keep the secretary at 30 hours per week is only $5,000 over the entire school year.
“We are basically providing for primary schools of similar size 25 hours of clerical time per week,” explained Superintendent Michael Strukoff.
“We have overall reduced clerical time in other schools – Perley and Hutton used to have a secretary and a half but as their enrollment shrank their clerical time has cut back.”
“The issues that they are concerned about are issues that Christina Lake faces. Greenwood, Big White, Midway, Beaverdell all have those same concerns.”
Responding to Strukoff’s comments after the meeting Gee said, “When I think of that person and their contribution I am not even thinking of the clerical time. You look at how big a part of so many of those children’s live that that person is. I see kids going up to her and talking to her all the time. I see that person really strongly supporting the teaching team.”
WBES PAC has scheduled a special meeting to discuss the issue on Thursday, April 18 at 4:30 in the WBES library.