Parents in rural Alberta hamlet fight to save their 94-year-old school

Sarah Reid · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 24, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The aboriginal of a tiny schoolhouse successful the northwestern Alberta hamlet of Dixonville is successful question aft years of declining enrolment.

Trustees with the Peace River School Division volition determine earlier the extremity of April whether to support Dixonville School operating oregon adjacent it astatine the extremity of the schoolhouse year.

The kindergarten-to-Grade 9 schoolhouse has been educating children since 1931.

"The information that it could beryllium closed is truly hard to hear," said Karl Sorensen, who lives successful the hamlet 540 kilometres by roadworthy northwest of Edmonton. 

Three generations of Sorensen's household person attended the school, including his father, his aunt, his uncle, himself, and present his 2 children.

Before that, his large aunt was hired arsenic 1 of the archetypal teachers astatine the school. It's 1 of the reasons wherefore he's determined to prevention it.

"We recognize it's a tiny school, but we deliberation it's precise important for the assemblage and the greater country to support it unfastened and anticipation for amended times." 

"Better times" for the schoolhouse means higher enrolment than it is seeing now.

In January, trustees asked for a viability reappraisal aft estimates enactment the projected September 2025 enrolment astatine 26 to 31 students, down from the 43 students enrolled successful September 2024.

A dependable diminution successful enrolment implicit the past 5 years has been a interest for the division, but the projected driblet beneath 35 students for 2025 would mean a ample chopped successful provincial funding. 

"It's decidedly not a large concern to beryllium in, erstwhile you're discussing the anticipation of closing down a schoolhouse erstwhile you cognize that it is the bosom and psyche of this community," committee seat Crystal Owens said successful an interview.

"It's not that the schoolhouse committee wants it closed by immoderate means. We connection large acquisition programming retired determination and we person astonishing staff, but yet it comes down to the magnitude of students and the magnitude of dollars attached to those students."

Dixonville School qualifies for provincial backing done the Rural Small School Grant.

The yearly backing is determined utilizing an mean enrolment calculation. With much than 35 students, the schoolhouse received astir $500,000 past year, but if enrolment falls beneath 35, backing would get chopped by much than half.

"It's challenging due to the fact that careless of if determination are 20 kids oregon 120 kids, security and utilities outgo the same," Owens said connected the interaction of backing cuts. 

"We tin juggle immoderate things similar staffing, but ultimately, erstwhile we don't get that backing to afloat screen those costs  — due to the fact that we're underutilized — we conscionable person to propulsion it from determination else."

That means from different schoolhouse successful the division. 

According to the report, adjacent with an accommodation successful the fig of staff, the schoolhouse part would inactive tally a shortage of astir $150,000. 

Changes to provincial backing calculations 

In an effort to assistance fast-growing municipality schoolhouse divisions, the astir caller provincial fund adjusted the enrolment calculation it uses to find backing from a three-year average, to a two-year average. Under the caller calculation, 70 per cent of backing is based connected anticipated enrolment, with the remainder based connected existent pupil numbers.

Owens said the alteration hurts agrarian schoolhouse divisions that don't person the aforesaid density of schools oregon pupil populations. 

"Sometimes kids are connected the autobus for good implicit an hr to get to their closest school, but [the funding] is based connected utilization truthful we don't get funded erstwhile our schools aren't full," she said.

In a connection to CBC, Garrett Koehler, property caput for the Ministry of Education, said that successful summation to the agrarian tiny schools grant, acquisition backing besides supports agrarian schools done a geographic grant. There is besides wealth for gathering operations and maintenance, caller this year.

"Alberta's authorities is alert of the schoolhouse board's enactment to adjacent the school, and we volition proceed to enactment with them to find the champion mode guardant and guarantee students successful the country proceed to person a world-class education," the connection said.

Preparing for 'Plan B'

Parents successful Dixonville are canvassing the catchment country to spot if they tin find immoderate students that the division's enrolment estimation missed, and entreaty to the state for much funding. 

"We privation the backing back, adjacent for a year, truthful we tin spot what our colonisation is really going to be," said Sorenson. "Let's not conscionable adjacent the schoolhouse connected a guess." 

Despite the anticipation that parents are holding onto, they said they are moving connected a 'Plan B,' which is to see a charter school.

If trustees ballot to adjacent the school, the determination connected what to bash with the spot would past beryllium up to the province.

At that point, parents could attack the state to tally a schoolhouse themselves. 

"We've had conversations with [neighbouring charter schools] and it seems similar it could beryllium a viable enactment for our community," Sorenson said.

"We person recovered retired we could get amended backing and we could bash our ain thing, we could beryllium successful charge, we tin tally the schoolhouse the mode we privation to."

The schoolhouse itself is captious to Dixonville for much than acquisition alone. It houses the community's room and greenhouse, and hosts dozens of assemblage events.

Owens said she understands wherefore parents would privation to support the gathering and unfastened a charter school.

"It's a pugnacious pill to swallow due to the fact that we advocator for wealth to beryllium capable to support these schools open," she said.

"But it's a world that we mightiness person to unopen down a schoolhouse and past wrong a twelvemonth the authorities is giving wealth to unfastened a charter school."