Not Just Brick's and Mortar, It is Socio-Economics as Well

Part of the argument proponents of a school swap between LaVerendrye and Earl Grey School's are putting forward is that these buildings that house our schools are merely bricks and mortar and if Earl Grey School moves to the LaVerendrye site, we will adapt nicely in our new surroundings and continue to do well.

Unfortunately, this ignores many realities of a swap which are that in the process Earl Grey School would lose our Jr. High programming, as well as being taken well over a half of a kilometre away from access to the Earl Grey Children's Center and the Earl Grey Community Center.

Why is this problematic? Part of the reason is because of the demographics of our school and the socio-economic realities that Earl Grey families and students face. A recent article in Maclean's magazine titles 'Just say ‘non’: The problem with French immersion' did an excellent job of tackling the issue, in a round-a-bout way. One part of the article focusing on the issue facing Earl Grey is as follows:

“Earl Grey, demographically, is poor,” Wasyliw says, adding it has a lot of students from single-parent families and a high Aboriginal population. It houses a nursery, and there is a community centre next door for at-risk youth. “We move, we lose that proximity to the [community] centre,” says Darryl Balasko, the parent advisory council chair at Earl Grey.

Now, some at the Earl Grey, understandably, wish the school had not been categorized as poor. We have a diverse range of students. However, the fact is that many of Earl Grey's students face challenges and hardships more so than we see occurring in the more affluent French-immersion, or in this case French Milieu schools like LaVerendrye, which have become, according to the article, more elite schools for wealthier children and families.

According to the Winnipeg School Division, 40 percent of students at Earl Grey School come from single parent families. Furthermore, 24.6 percent students were BELOW the low income cut off. Aboriginal families make up 19.6 percent of the population, and could be as high as 35 percent when Aboriginal students living with non-Aboriginal families are factored in. Additionally, Earl Grey is home to a 18.5 percent immigrants from a range of countries.

The truth is, based on Winnipeg School Division's OWN FINDINGS, Earl Grey School has a vulnerable student population, and they will be HIT THE HARDEST by a school swap. One swap advocate took exception to the Maclean's article arguing:

Unfortunately, she is wrong on both accounts. Race and poverty do play a role here, and as a result it is very much an "Us" vs "Them" situation. Moving at risk kids away from the Earl Grey Community Centre and it's lunchtime and afterschool programming is going to hit them hard. They will be left without the facilities that students and families have come to rely on to help them manage, and to keep kids in a safe, stable, productive environment.

Furthermore, Earl Grey families rely on the Earl Grey Children's Centre for it's programming. Unfortunately, EGCC is ONLY licensed for the Earl Grey School site. That means that it cannot transfer to LaVerendrye. That is going to hit these low income families who rely on this service the hardest, with no reasonable alternative given.

The argument has been that the schools are close together, so students can travel between the schools to take advantage of these services. No. The schools are well over a half a kilometre apart, which is substantial, especially in the harsh winter months. There are no plans for any transportation opportunities for students between the two locations, which means kids, especially low income and at risk kids are taken away from the programs built for them by the Earl Grey Community Centre to give them a better life.

Furthermore, with the loss of Jr. High, we would have families scrambling to try and find a Jr. High program for kids to go to, with, once again, no promise of transportation or acceptance. Once again, this will be hardest for vulnerable and low income families. Not to mention that studies show that students of all demographics perform far better in Jr. High grades when they are combined with a grade school as opposed to being part of a High School environment, or on their own. And that will be particularly hard for Earl Grey's already at risk kids.

These loses will be devastating to the Earl Grey School community. These programs took years, and often decades to develop to suit the needs of Earl Grey's demographics. A swap would destroy all those years of work overnight. And those who will pay the highest price are the at risk, low income, Aboriginal and immigrant children and families that make up a good percentage of Earl Grey's population.

This isn't just about bricks and mortar. This is about vulnerable people in our community and a system that has been built for them that would be completely torn apart in the case of a swap. This is why we must fight against a swap. This is why we must fight to protect Earl Grey School. Stop the swap.

Dispelling the Myth of a "School Swap" Precedent

There have been a number of frustrating aspects to the campaign in favour of a school swap between LaVerendrye School and Earl Grey School. Having to overcome false information, like claims to how many students Earl Grey School can hold, have been a tremendous challenge. Another is the sheer lack of respect shown by some of the proponents of the swap, which is becoming clear is NOT everyone at LaVerendrye, especially when it comes to understanding of just how much this swap will truly effect Earl Grey School. They have tried very hard to downplay our very real concerns and worse, very real loses and it is only adding to the division felt in the community as a whole between the two schools. 

A recent post on their blog illustrates the kind of misinformation we have to fight against in our quest to have the right thing done, which is to stop this swap. In it, proponents of the swap argue that a swap has been done successfully in the Louis Riel School division between Ecole Marie Anne Gaboury and Hastings School. Well, it wasn't exactly successful in the sense that even it divided the community, and that was a switch with even less impact for both schools involved. 

The fact is, both Ecole Marie Anne Gaboury and Hasting School's shared the same property. It was just a matter of crossing a field. Also, the child care facilities in both schools were run by the same company. In this case, you did have a genuine swap, and even this was extremely divisive as outlined in several news articles, like this one. 

In the case of Earl Grey and LaVerendrye schools, we do not share a property. In fact, it is a sizeable enough distance between the two schools to cause substantial headaches for Earl Grey students and families. Also, the Earl Grey Children's Centre is ONLY licensed for the current Earl Grey site, where as the other two schools has child care facilities run by the same company. On top of that, Earl Grey School's connection with the adjacent community centre, which also holds Dante Day Nursery, will be broken and that doesn't appear to be a factor in the other swap. Kids rely on the community center for lunch and after school programming and being removed from the site will make it a challenge, if not impossible, to access this resource. And then, of course, is the fact that a move will mean that Earl Grey School will lose it's grade 7 and 8 programs. 

Comparing the Ecole Marie Anne Gaboury and Hastings School swap with what would happen to Earl Grey in the case of a swap with LaVerendrye School is like comparing apples to school buses. They are not remotely the same. In fact even calling what would happen between Earl Grey and LaVerendrye as a swap is misleading because, as illustrated above, it is more of a dismantling of Earl Grey than a swap. 

So, claims that there is a successful precedent that was smooth and peachy keen is disingenuous and ignores the realities of what will happen between Earl Grey and LaVerendrye. It is a slap in the face of concerned Earl Grey families who know the truth about what we have to lose, and don't appreciate these concerns being down played, or having misinformation spread about them. If a swap is going to be made, it must be made with all of the facts laid bare. And in this case, the fact is, this "swap" is nothing like the Ecole Marie Anne Gaboury and Hasting School swap in many ways. Trying to draw a parallel is grasping for straws at best. And this is why we must continue to fight to stop the swap 

Amazing Turnout for Earl Grey School's "Stop the Swap" Rally

Wow. That's the best way to describe the turnout for Earl Grey School's rally to Stop the Swap, held Saturday, March 14th. The turnout was just incredible, with at least 100 showing up to passionately voice their concerns about a swap with LaVeredrye that would end in the dismantling of Earl Grey School.

What the event showed is just how tight the Earl Grey community is, and how well we all get along and work together. Kids from all grade levels showed up with signs expressing their displeasure of the idea of a swap, and it was great to see so many civic minded youth standing up for their views. It's clear that Earl Grey has produced caring, intelligent and passionate kids who have a great understanding of the world around them and they did our community proud.

It was nice to see media show up and allow us to provide accurate information to the public about our concerns and the realities of a swap. It was greatly appreciated. And the many parents that were interviewed represented our school well.

All in all, it was a giant success that hopefully leads Earl Grey School one step closer to stopping the swap.

Public Flyer: Stop the Swap: Save Earl Grey School!

Earl Grey's Concerns: Why We Want to Stop the Swap