They came by the hundreds, from places like Burstall and Wilcox, Chaplin and Tompkins, and other Saskatchewan communities where residents are concerned about keeping rural schools open.
They waved signs and chanted “save our schools” while parading in front of the Saskatchewan legislature as MLAs and political staffers watched.
But they didn’t get any assurances from the government that schools wouldn’t close or that funding from the province would be more equitable.
David Gleim, who speaks for the Save our Schools lobby, said fair funding is key to keeping schools open. Urban schools get more money than rural schools, he told the crowd, even though they, too, are losing students.
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“You need to resolve the imbalance,” he said.
The 2007-08 operating grants for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school system highlight the inequity, Gleim said.
According to learning department information, the Prairie South School Division, headquartered in Moose Jaw, expects an enrolment decline of 437 students and will see its funding cut by $1.8 million, or 9.14 percent.
The next highest loss of students is expected in Regina’s public school division but despite the projection of 384 fewer students, the division’s grant increased by nearly $6.3 million, or 9.85 percent.
Learning minister Deb Higgins received jeers from the crowd when she spoke and drew particular criticism for saying that funding followed students.
She said the department has revised the foundation operating grant to make it simpler. New factors in the formula for school funding include those addressing small schools and geography.
The Chinook School Division has said those changes will cost it $1.1 million in provincial funding, leaving property taxes to cover the shortfall.
This is occurring even as the basic grant per student is going up by $646.
Sask Party education critic Rod Gantefoer said the government pushed through the amalgamation of school divisions and the recent budget should have included funding to address rural school closures.
He said communities haven’t had time to explore their options after a moratorium of 2 1/2 years.
“The schools will be closed before the consultation and community input can really begin,” he said in the legislature.
Higgins replied that school boards have to be allowed to go through the process.
“We all understand that this is a very emotional time and that we are particularly at a difficult point in all of this because while notice has been given for the reviews, we are not yet at the step where there is any definite decisions made,” Higgins said.
She told reporters that extending the moratorium might only compound the problem.
About 20 schools were closed each year before the moratorium was instituted. There are 52 schools under review now, but not all will necessarily close.
Higgins said the department does not have a list of schools flagged for closure.
It also does not get involved in setting busing time for students. She said divisions must take into account distances when setting bus routes.
People at the rally said the government must recognize that with increasing energy development and other economic activity, more people will locate in rural Saskatchewan if schools are there.
