COLLINS: Education — another trouble spot
FOR THE PAST WHILE, I have enjoyed the weekly newsletters of School District 73 Superintendent Rhonda Nixon, who takes us through her week visiting schools in the district and pointing out what various classes are doing.
While I still admit to being wary about the loss of things like cursive writing and some of the old-school methods I grew up with, I am intrigued by some of the clever methods being used to teach things like English, math and science. Most importantly, many of the new ideas emphasize building relationships and working together, and a good sprinkling of the history of our Indigenous peoples. I presume that, at some point, the lessons progress to the next, more intense level, and judging by my grandchild’s progress, that appears to be the case. But I wonder, as Gray gets ready for Grade 12 in the fall, whether or not there will be enough support to help prepare for university.
Like most districts in the province, School District 73 is struggling financially. Budget cuts are coming as the district tries to cope. My eldest grandchild is graduating next month from the second-largest high school in the province, Killarney Secondary. She has done well. Next year, Gray will graduate from one of the smallest secondary schools.
I will be interested to see how things fare with the budget cuts. Who suffers the most when these cuts happen — big schools or little schools? The cuts won’t be evenly spread out, And which special programs and events will be curtailed or cut? Something will have to give — and both large and small schools will be hurt in different ways, so no matter what happens, the quality of education will drop. You can’t cut teachers, support staff and the like and still expect to have the same quality of learning. Even the best teachers in the world can’t deal with that much loss of support.
