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Students at Arborfield School in 2021. (Facebook/Arborfield School)

NESD keeping Arborfield School open, changing to K-6

Apr 26, 2023 | 3:00 PM

Arborfield School will remain open but will no longer teach students in grades 7 to 12.

The North East School Division’s (NESD) Board of Education held its monthly meeting on Tuesday where they approved making the school a K-6 starting in September.

Talks had been ongoing for several months about whether to keep it open or close after low enrollment numbers for the current school year.

Stacy Lair, the Director of Education for NESD, told northeastNOW this was a tough decision, but one they did to ensure all students in their division continue to receive the best education.

“It’s important for the board to create and look for learning opportunities across the division, so I think (the board is) balancing the best way they could to keep what hopefully will be a strong and viable K-6 school.”

Lair said there were many parents and guardians who wanted the school to remain open.

This includes members of the School Review Committee which was tasked with gathering all relevant information for the board. They previously presented enrollment projections, which estimated there would be 82 in the 2023-24 school year, 92 for 2024-25, 93 for 2025-26, 96 for 2026-27, and 104 for 2027-28.

Lair didn’t specify whether these projections, which were gathered through birth records, played a part in keeping the school open for younger students.

Meanwhile, the plan is for most of the students to go to Carrot River’s new school starting in 2024.

Lair noted it’s up to the parents and guardians where they want their kids to go, however, they may not be able to use a school bus.

“Families can choose and drive their children to different schools, but the boundary does impact where we’ll bus students.”

She noted some families have been grandfathered in which means their children will be able to use the bus to go to Carrot River even if they’re not in the school’s boundary.

The Board is expected to finalize the new boundary by June, giving families enough time to plan for the upcoming school year.

As for staff, Lair explained they plan on talking with all their employees over the next couple of days. She couldn’t confirm whether they’ll just move to new schools, though she did mention that they plan on looking at enrollment numbers to see if any schools might need some additional staff.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow