During the most recent School District No. 5 (SD5) meeting, board members discussed replacing Isabella Dicken Elementary School (IDES) in Fernie and Frank J Mitchell Elementary School (FJM) in Sparwood. After posting a story about the closure of these schools on Facebook, we received a lot of feedback from the public.
Local residents raised concern over space limitations in the schools and questioned why, if there was limited space to begin with were two schools that used to operate in Fernie closed down? Ridgemont Elementary School and C L Salvador Elementary School were both closed and torn down, eventually making way for the development of the current Silver Ridge Estates. What I can’t seem to grasp, however, is why schools would be closed and not replaced?
It is clear that Fernie’s population continues to grow, with new residential properties popping up year after year. In fact, this year alone, Fernie will be making room for both the Montane properties and the Alpine Trails Fairy Creek properties.
As the city continues to grow, so does the demographic of families with young children, yet it seems like there is limited space for those children.
SD5 Board Director Frank Lento said that aging infrastructure along with space limitations are the main reasons he would like to pursue replacing IDES and FJM. He also noted that IDES, which currently educates 350 students, has expanded its infrastructure simply by adding three portables. I don’t think that adding portables is a valid solution. Not only are portables visually unappealing, it also seems like they would cost school districts more in the long term. Over time, the high price of electricity, maintenance and the cost of dismantling and disposing of these temporary buildings seems like it would outweigh the cost of expanding the original structure to accommodate not only the current student population but also to allow for growth.
The other issue is the seclusion of children in portables. Unlike a full-sized school, where children can socialize between classes, children being educated in portables are secluded from the rest of the school. There are also health risks associated with portables. Although they may be acceptable as a short-term solution, I personally feel that expanding a school with portables is not a viable long-term solution.
As both Fernie and Sparwood continue to grow, I think it’s important that the public invest in children’s education, starting with the expansion of IDES and FJM.