Student’s voice

Pinecrest student to help guide big changes

When the Hastings-Prince Edward District School Board (HPEDSB) put the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) process into motion, schools affected by a plan to either close, merge or rebuild were asked to contribute members in the form of the principal, one teacher, one non-teaching faculty member and one student.

At Pinecrest this fall, 13-year-old Jasper Gilbert was called to the office, along with four other students. Teachers had deliberated and selected the five, based on their leadership skills, to represent their student body during the ARC meetings.

Pinecrest is one of three schools the board proposes to be closed, with students moving instead to Prince Edward Collegiate Institute (PECI) in Picton.

That night, Jasper went home and spoke to his parents. Their concern was two-fold. First, did the eighth-grader have the time to take on more responsibility? And more importantly, next year he would be in grade nine, moving on to PECI. Did he care?

Jasper does care. He is concerned about the fact that there is only two days per week for Pinecrest students to access their library because of budget cuts, and that art and music classes are limited for the same reason. He’s concerned about the quality of the transition.

“Even though I’m leaving this school, if they are going to come to my school, why not make it a better transition,” says Jasper. “All the decisions are supposed to be made by the middle of June. If we follow procedure, it should take longer than this. So if we’re rushing to the middle of June, we might miss steps and make the transition worse.”

He also appreciates that students are getting a voice in the process.

“I think they wanted a student voice,” says Jasper. “Instead of just people who… are going to be teaching, I think they wanted people who are going to be learning. I think that’s a good idea… you might not be able to learn in certain environments.”

After the students had checked in with their parents, the school held a vote, with grade seven and eight students voting along with faculty. Jasper was elected.

Jasper says when the principal introduced him as the student voice for the process, kids immediately approached him with questions and comments, much to his surprise.

“I thought it would be kind of a forgotten subject and no one would really care about it, but obviously they did,” says Jasper.

There are concerns students have that adults may not have considered, like the social implications.

“School spirit is a big one, because if you’re not comfortable with other schools but you’re comfortable with your school, you stay with your own school,” says Jasper. He’s concerned that if Pinecrest and Queen Elizabeth school students move to PECI in 2017 and Sophiasburgh students move in 2018, there would be an unproductive social divide.

“It has its good parts and it has its bad parts,” says Jasper. “We wouldn’t spend money keeping all these other parts of the school that aren’t being used when we could all go to the high school. We’d have more money for learning.”

Jasper’s father, Jefferson, has been following the issue of declining enrollment that has led to the current process since his family moved here four years ago.

It’s obviously half-full. That’s obvious. You sort of sit there thinking, when is this going to happen? It has to happen,” says Jefferson.

Living in the village of Bloomfield, Jefferson has concerns about the effect closing Pinecrest will have on a community that is already disappearing as residential neighbourhoods are turning into small offices and vacation rentals. When Jasper started at Pinecrest, he was one of 18 kids who walked to school. This year it’s down to seven.

Jefferson considered getting involved in the process himself, but has decided to sit back and allow his son to be involved, with some guidance.

“It’s a family commitment for sure,” says Jefferson. “I, at one point, had thought, should I apply? Because I have a varied background around schools, creation of reading programs. But I decided, you know what? It’s [Jasper’s] turn. If he wants to get involved, he should get involved and figure it out.”

While schools chose their own members, the Ministry of Education’s review process calls for members of the community to sit on the ARCs. The callout for interested stakeholders came this fall.

On Monday, the board contacted those who expressed interest in sitting on the ARCs. According to the board’s communications head, Kerry Donnell, there were 15 community members who expressed interest in participating in Prince Edward County. Of the ARCs in Centre Hastings, only two stepped forward. No one expressed interest in Belleville.

Donnell could not reveal who the board had selected, but says they will be introduced at an orientation meeting, which the public may attend, at PECI on January 25.