Wabaseemoong school continues to struggle with poor learning conditions
From http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/News/275148.html
Overcrowding growing concern at Whitedog school
By Mike Aiken - Miner and News - December 13, 2006
Barb Mach tries to keep focused on a tutoring session, but it’s hard to do.
Her lesson’s taking place in a converted staff room at Wabaseemoong School with 15 special ed students from a Grade 7/8 class.
“It’s exactly the environment they have trouble in,” she said.
Due to bureaucratic foot dragging, the building built for a capacity of 260 children from kindergarten to Grade 12 had 320 in September. The new construction promised for next fall 2007 might be ready for 2009.
“Students have been given hope so many times,” said Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) First Nation band councillor Waylon Scott on Tuesday. “It’ll get to a point where they’ll say ‘It’s not going to happen’.”
Since classes began, an estimated 50 have dropped off the rolls. With 70 per cent of enrolment in Grade 3 or younger, the band’s education authority is considering some drastic solutions.
One includes sending the high school students to Kenora, where they can get access to shops, optional courses and more extra-curricular activities.
While it may allow children access to classrooms, it may not solve related problems including the high drop-out rates among aboriginal students at local schools.
The vice-principal at Wabaseemoong First Nation School, Gaye McDonald, said the two-hour bus ride would make it very difficult for the senior students who have family responsibilities.
McDonald noted many of them are already parents, which would make the commute or a billeting situation very difficult for all involved.
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada spokesman Tony Prudori said Ottawa has approved design work on the new building, as well as the assignment of two portables to ease overcrowding.
Negotiations with the former Liberal government had included a personal pledge by Treasury Board President Reg Alcock to oversee the project. However, he and his government were defeated last January, causing further delay in the tendering process.
In recent years, renovations have helped with a sinking foundation, shifting walls, buckled floorboards, bent doorframes and an electrical panel that was separating from the wall.
A breakdown in the aging furnace last Christmas caused the plumbing to burst and flooding in the gym. The rebuilding of the 34-year-old school could cost an estimated $18 million.
The library and radio room have been converted for space, along with the front room in a teacher’s home, which has become a classroom for up to 20.
In the fall, National Chief Phil Fontaine paid a personal visit, along with MPP Howard Hampton. Both have applied pressure to federal government staff, leading to personal contact with senior staff at Indian Affairs and Treasury Board.
Regional Chief Angus Toulouse and Grand Chief Arnold Gardner were scheduled to visit the school Tuesday, but cancelled the night before. Band council received a note after 11 p.m. Monday saying the trip was off, Scott said, but he didn’t elaborate on the reason for the cancellation.
Fog grounded flights in and out of Kenora Tuesday morning, but it isn’t clear how this affected the regional chief since he was due to arrive in the city the day before. Calls to the Chiefs of Ontario and Treaty 3 offices weren’t returned Tuesday. The meeting was scheduled even though the two political bodies announced their split late last week.
The new school would have a capacity of between 400 and 450, which would solve many of the issues with crowding, said McDonald. It would also bring children in care home to the community, she added, noting the lack of classrooms is an obstacle.
The community has an on-reserve population of 876, but there are an estimated 200 children in care. Bringing these wards of the state back into the First Nation is an important issue for the band leadership.
In recent years, Whitedog has seen the creation of a new water treatment plant, water tower, children’s aid office and renovations at the youth resource centre. However, the completion of the Treaty 3 police substation continue to linger, as it also deals with a shifting foundation.
Much of Whitedog is located on clay or swamp, which makes it difficult for engineering.