Closing our schools should be the very last resort

by Robin Smith

My name is Robin Smith, and I have so many reasons to be concerned with the proposed changes.

I’m 32 years old, and I started Kindergarten in Logan Lake Elementary, and went on to Logan Lake Senior Secondary. I was fortunate enough to be raised in Logan Lake, and to have an opportunity to raise my 3 children in the community that I love.

As a Realtor, and previous business owner, I can offer some knowledge in the area of housing, business, and the detrimental economic effects this change will have on all the communities involved.

As a Councillor for the District of Logan Lake, I can appreciate the difficult situation and decisions the board will have to make.

Although I have knowledge and interests in all of these areas, I’m not here to talk to you today about social or the economic impacts because I know that you have heard them all, and trust that you all empathize.

Today I am here because I am blessed to be the parent of a 'special needs' child, and as such it is my responsibility to be sure that our Special needs are also considered very carefully during this difficult process.

Many of you are probably aware our Special needs children have recently been the victims of many cut backs within the system. This is in addition to the proposed loss of our Schools.

The changes to delivery of education will have an impact on these children in ways that a person without a Special needs child could never fully understand.

We’re talking about taking our children, who have serious sensitivities, a tendency to ignore boundaries and who are highly vulnerable in a host of ways, and placing them in environments with children of all ages. We are proposing to subject them to situations where their safety cannot be protected. Because their cognitive thinking is not the same as typical children, we have spent their lives teaching them to repeat what others say, and imitate their actions. How will we ask them to completely disregard all of what they have learned for their whole lives, and not to imitate the others, and repeat their language?

Many parents of Special needs choose to live in rural communities because it gives them a sense of safety and security that they would not otherwise have in a larger setting Special needs children do not necessarily understand concepts such as “stranger danger” and they tend to trust most people, whether they mean well or not.

Right now we’re rest assured that our Special needs children are safe in their schools. Their peers are able to look out for them in a small school and we depend on their peers to guide them. If they become a number in a large school they are no longer safe, particularly with traditional the lack of support that they have been given. Who will guarantee that if these children are forced to ride a bus, and get dropped off at a bus stop that they will make it to and from their class safely?

Right now the onus is on us as parents with the support of all the other children, and parents. If these proposed changes include bussing our Special needs children the onus will no longer be on us, it will be on you.

My understanding is that support workers will be provided on an as needed basis. It’s my experience thus far that one on one support with trained professionals are very few and far between. Standard busses are not equipped to handle any wheelchair accessibility needs. This brings me to my next questions: Who will be there to comfort these kids if they have a meltdown? Who will stand up, and take the responsibility to make sure these children are travelling to and from school safely? Who will take a stand, and say it’s not acceptable to expect us to allow our Special needs to be handled in this manner?

I chose to serve the public as an elected official, because I care deeply about my community, and the people in it. I’m sure you share the same values in your positions as elected officials. I ask that you seriously consider all other options, such as the option of a four-day week, before taking steps to close our schools that will have so many detrimental impacts on so many of the people that you serve.

In closing, I want to thank you again for all of your efforts, and I although I recognize that you are ultimately responsible for making the system work, I also want to remind you that like me, you asked to be selected to fill these positions because you cared about what happens to our children and our communities. I’m sure most, if not all of you have the desire to make our system better, and in so doing you have our support, and we are willing to work together to come up with good productive solutions that will benefit us all.

Closing our schools should be the very last resort.

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