WINNIPEG – Parents, not children, showed up for the first day of school in Belmont, Man. last week.
More than 100 people from the small town protested a cost-cutting measure that would see 13 of the school’s 49 students bused to nearby Glenboro.
The dispute started last spring, when the Tiger Hills school division decided to transfer the Grade 7 and 8 students and their teacher.
Bev Williamson, whose son is in Grade 7, said the community feels the move would be the first step to losing the school.
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And she believes the school is a “lifeline” for the town of 300. If the school goes, she thinks Belmont will slowly lose other services.
“The minute you close the school, you’re putting that town on the endangered list,” she said. “How dare they?”
She also said some farm kids would have to ride the bus for an hour and a half to Glenboro, which is 35 kilometres from Belmont.
Parents are upset they weren’t consulted.
“Our notice consisted of reading it in the local newspaper in the regular minutes of the Tiger Hills school board after this has all been said and done,” Williamson recalled.
So the parent advisory council started to work for change.
Over the summer, they met with officials from the ministry of education, who agreed the board should have consulted the community.
In mid-August, the parents decided they would keep their kids out of school until the division changed its mind.
“The school division admits they made a mistake, that they should have consulted with the parent advisory board before they did anything,” Williamson said.
“They are in the wrong here, and it’s up to them to decide what to do now.”
Both sides met Aug. 29. Neither superintendent Ray Le Neal nor school board chair Marvin Anderson were available for comment.
But Williamson said parents left the meeting frustrated. The board told parents it won’t consider the matter until its next meeting on Sept. 10.
In the meantime, Williamson is teaching her kids at home. Other parents are considering sending their children to Baldur or Ninette, both about 15 km from Belmont.
“They’re not going to get any of our kids at Glenboro, that’s for sure,” she fumed.
As for the students, Williamson said her two have had enough of summer vacation and are eager to hit the books.
“They’re restless,” she sighed. “They’d like to get back to school, so they’d like to see (the dispute) over.”
