Diane Crocker/The Western Star
George Keeping, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District’s assistant director of education for the western region, is seen in his office at the district office on Wellington Street.
George Keeping, assistant director of education for the western region, said the board is considering turning Humber Elementary into a district office/conference centre.
It’s all about running a more efficient operation given the financial situation in the province.
The school board currently rents its office space on Wellington Street. Its operations division and alternate school are located in the S.D. Cook building on Fern Street and educational psychologists work out of Brakes Cove.
“What we would look to do would be to have as many of us in the one regional, bigger office/conference centre combination.”
The conference centre, similar to one in Gander, would enable the board to run its professional development and other training or information sessions on site and eliminate the need to rent outside space.
But before a new board office can happen, the students have to be moved out of Humber Elementary.
Closing the school is part of the elementary reorganization that started in 2009.
The plan to reduce the five elementary schools in the city to three was due in part to declining enrolment.
When Keeping looks at the projected enrolment numbers from 2009 and where things are today, he said “they’re pretty close.” For next year the board is looking at 1,300 students in the kindergarten to Grade 6 system.
Keeping said enrolment numbers are declining here more than in other regions.
“We’re just losing more children,” he said. “The more you lose, then you have to revisit and readjust.”
He said the reduction from the 2009 plan is still a possibility, but given the time it’s been since that plan was developed the board wants to take a look at again and that includes having a dialogue with the community — meeting with school councils and parents.
“In the new financial reality we find ourselves in we’ve got to revisit that part of the plan,” he said. “We have proposed for three schools, (so) is there still a need for three schools? If so, how does it work and are there other options we may need to consider?”
While the entire plan hasn’t been worked out, renovations to G.C. Rowe have started to convert the former junior high into a kindergarten to Grade 6 elementary school. The new school will replace Humber Elementary and St. Gerard’s.
This past winter work was done on the washrooms, bringing them up to current standards and making them more suited for a younger student body. Lockers have also been removed from the school.
The next phase of construction will occur over the next year and it’s the board’s aim to move students into the school in September 2017.
“Then we’ve got to look at where things are now with the enrolment and what the best decision is,” said Keeping of tackling the remainder of the system.
