ZWAAGSTRA: Flexibility and choice will help rural schools remain viable

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Byemoor School is a tiny K-9 school about 250 km southeast of Edmonton, and it’s projected to have only 32 students this fall. That makes it one of the smallest schools in the province.

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Like other small schools, Byemoor is struggling to stay open. According to the superintendent of Clearview Public School Division, provincial funding for Byemoor decreased significantly when enrolment dipped below 35 students.

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In a bid to cut costs and hopefully retain teachers, Clearview trustees recently voted to authorize a four-day school week for Byemoor. Students will attend school Monday to Thursday for an extra hour each day and be off on Fridays. Not only will this new policy reduce busing costs by one-fifth, it also means school staff, most of whom live about 70 km away, won’t have to commute to work on Fridays.

Four-day school week

Byemoor isn’t the first school in the area to experiment with a four-day school week. Brownfield School, another small rural school located about one hour from Byemoor, has had a four-day school week for more than 20 years.

Hopefully, Clearview trustees continue to recognize the importance of flexibility when dealing with small rural schools. Switching to a four-day school week will likely reduce costs, but this change alone might not be enough to keep Byemoor School viable in the long run. Thankfully in Alberta, the province with the most school choice in Canada, other options remain available.

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Not only do parents have a choice between fully-funded government schools, but the Alberta government also allows 70% of a student’s education funding to follow them to independent schools.

Obviously, it can be more challenging to set up independent schools in rural areas where population density is sparse. But it’s not impossible.

In fact, most independent schools in Alberta have fewer than 300 students, and 36 independent schools have fewer than 50 students. In other words, independent schools can function effectively with only a small number of students.

Charter schools are another option available to Alberta families. Charter schools are autonomous public schools that operate outside the authority of regular school boards. They typically have a unique educational focus and are governed by a volunteer parent board. Currently, there are 36 charter school authorities that manage 58 schools.

Charter schools can also help rural communities keep schools open. For example, in 2008, when faced with the closure of their only school, parents in Valhalla Centre in northwest Alberta successfully applied for a charter from the province, and Valhalla Community School reopened as an independently operated charter school. Today, nearly 20 years later, it’s still going strong.

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Students’ interests at heart

In both charter schools and independent schools, governing boards focus on what’s in the best interest of students. In contrast, government school boards are responsible for a wide range of schools and communities, with interests that are diverse and perhaps at odds with each other.

This creates pressure to close smaller schools and consolidate students into larger schools where more services are available. While this might make school divisions easier to administer, it’s not in the best interest of a small hamlet to lose its only school. That’s why it’s important to have alternatives available to parents.

Clearly, students in rural areas should have access to the same quality of education as those who live in large centres. More flexibility and choice are the keys to ensuring that rural students get the education they deserve.

Michael Zwaagstra is a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.

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