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Will KCVI be closed ?

Many residents are aware that the school board has established a “PARC” - Program Accommodation Review Committee - with a mandate to review KCVI, LCVI and QECVI within the context of programs and accommodations. It is widely supposed that recommendations could include the suggestion to close one of these three schools. Rob Hutchison, councillor for King’s Town, has been appointed as council’s representative on that committee. As any closure could have an enormous and negative impact on the city, some comments here may be of interest.

The challenge confronting the school board is declining enrollment and therefore reduced per capita funding. Each of the three schools in Sydenham District has falling enrollment because of the flight of families from the district. That is a long-term issue which I hope the Near Campus Neighbourhoods Advisory Committee (which I chair and which was initiated on a motion I seconded) will be able to address. But, additionally, responsible population projections show that the employment age category (defined by statisticians as 15 - 64) will begin to decline the year after next, in 2013. The overall total population of Kingston is projected to start to decline in 2030. These projections will be given a very important validation when the 2011 census figures are released in early February next year. Once council has that more complete data, I hope they will be persuaded of the need to consider an immigration policy for the city. Failing that, with a declining employment age group, we cannot expect to be able to maintain the current level of economic activity, let alone grow it.

So what can we do about the possible threat of closing of KCVI? The best and most effective advocacy is informed advocacy. I understand that the first PARC meeting will be on Tuesday, November 1 (a council night) at KCVI at 7 PM. Thereafter, the committee will meet every other Tuesday. Meetings will be open for the public to observe, just as a council meeting is. I have been told that approximately every third or fourth meeting (perhaps February, April and June), the meeting will be constituted as a public meeting, at which residents can offer comment. I would strongly urge interested groups and individuals to attend as many of the meetings as possible, so they will be better placed to offer informed comment at the public meetings.

Thinking about the question today, I believe it would be shortsighted of the school board to close any school. Once a school is closed, and the property sold, it will be impossible to open another school in the same area. And suitable land elsewhere in the central residential area is not widely available! For several reasons I believe a strong case can be made that the current decline in student support base for schools is both cyclical and temporary. First, in stable neighbourhoods, where families watch their children grow up, obviously the children pass through the local school. At some point, the “empty nesting” parents decide to downsize and move. And a new family with small children will probably move in, thus helping to renew the school population base.

It is important to remember that the province, (and given the election results this policy will not change soon) has required municipalities to have an urban growth boundary, and to promote infill and population intensification or density increases within that boundary. This too will help to restore the enrollment base for schools.

Flight of families must be addressed.

For some time I have been urging that we address the flight of families from Sydenham district for this very reason of possible school closures.

Closing any school in Sydenham district will have a disastrous consequence for all of Kingston.

If families who want to live in the central or downtown area cannot send children to school easily, the downtown area will eventually become a real ghetto. Look at some of the American cities with their empty downtowns and the resulting economic impact if you doubt my point. The inability of faculty who would otherwise choose to live close to Queen’s will also have a serious negative impact on the university. I have beee making this point at the level of informal contact with members of the Queen’s administration, and I think it is appreciated. I am hopeful that this will result in the university’s efforts to help reverse the flight of families, and to take a stand on the KCVI possible closing.

The flight of families has developed over time and will take time to reverse. However, with two important steps, the City has started to facilitate that change. Students cannot be expected to live beyond walking distance from their campus buildings if they have no suitable place to live, and they cannot get there. My motion of March, 2008 initiated the reform of Kingston Transit. One of the two new routes now in place directly serves the student needs. The projected express routes starting to come into service in 2013 will also help people get to campus quickly. The city’s Williamsville redevelopment study has also addressed the question of providing for suitable student housing in that area. It is also significant that Queen’s is now engaging in the municipal discussion about student housing, whereas they were once silent on the matter.

Any school closures would be "short-sighted".

Developing an immigration policy and the steps needed to assist the return of families will take time, but they both must happen because they are essential to our economic health and are consistent with the proclaimed polices of senior levels of government. In other words, we cannot afford not to make them happen. It is because I believe the population trend will reverse that I say it would be short-sighted, even in the extreme, of the school board to close any of the schools currently under review.

We are still left, however, with the school board’s immediate funding crisis. What can be done about that? The PARC recommendations will be expected to address that issue. That is one reason why I say it is important that residents be fully informed of the PARC work, so they can make meaningful contributions, and help explain to others the rationale behind any recommendations that might be forthcoming.

The school board currently has a considerable expense for bussing students to schools. Could that be reduced or removed? I went to high school in Ottawa, and used public transit every day, as did many of my contemporaries. As we move towards a more efficient and reliable Kingston transit, that should be a very real option here in Kingston. The school board should be working closely with Kingston Transit in the design of routes. Granted it will mean a change for some, but if current bus funding can then be redirected to keeping schools open, that will benefit everyone.

In order to use space that is presently empty in the schools, programs and catchment area boundaries may need review. That could mean developing a “middle school” concept, perhaps of grades 7 and 8, and collocating them in a high school. Again, this is common practice in many places.

Clearly the schools review is important to us all. It is worth the effort to follow it more closely than reliance on the media will allow.

I welcome your views and ideas on these matters.



613.549.1900
www.billglover.org
bglover@cityofkingston.ca


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