Education needs more than temporary fixes

Opinion

“It is a necessary evil. There aren’t washrooms in the modulars. That means kids have to go outside to go into the main part of the building. If you go inside [the modulars], they’re actually lovely spaces, but they’re not attached to the school, and that’s a serious drawback.”

— Brandon School Division chair Linda Ross, Feb. 17, 2023

 

Whether or not you agree with the provincial government’s decision to end its lockup agreements that let police services house those they’ve arrested in correctional facilities, at least it came through in terms of funding.

The Brandon Police Service, suddenly in charge of taking care of its own prisoners for the first time in a long time, was faced with millions of dollars in costs to build an expansion onto its headquarters and temporarily install trailers to house people in the meantime.

To the government’s credit, they have come through with all the funding needed to pay for these additions and absorb a burden that would otherwise be placed on local taxpayers.

It’s unfortunate that our province isn’t doing the same for education.

Last Saturday, the Sun reported Maryland Park School — Brandon’s newest school — is already overcapacity and has been forced to use rooms designated for teaching classes like music and home economics to teach regular lessons in as four modular classrooms are being prepped for use.

Brandon School Division chairperson Linda Ross said last week that the school was originally intended to hold 650 students, but only has capacity for 450.

This is disappointing because the construction of this school was supposed to relieve the pressure on overpopulated schools. And yet we’re seeing the use of modulars not just at Maryland Park, but also at Alexander, Betty Gibson, Earl Oxford, Meadows and École New Era schools.

On top of that, new housing being constructed on Portola Drive threatens to bring even more students to Maryland Park when completed.

What’s even more disappointing is that, according to Ross, the province had pledged at one point to build an additional eight permanent classrooms at Maryland Park and has yet to come through.

As they wait for those permanent classrooms to be built, our local school division is forced to bring in more portable classrooms. Though Ross said the province will pay for them, the school division will still have to pay to run them.

When it comes to policing, the province is willing to foot the bill for both temporary and permanent solutions to the capacity crunch.

It’s unfortunate that the Progressive Conservatives aren’t willing to make the same considerations for our community’s children.

The Tories have received a lot of derision for not handling the health-care system properly, but their handling of education deserves criticism as well.

They continue to phase out education property taxes without unveiling a replacement funding model.

Their attempts to reform the education system were so unpopular that they had to withdraw their own legislation.

Sure, all school divisions are receiving a funding boost this year, but most of the increases are lower than the rate of inflation.

If this government wants to be re-elected this fall, it might want to demonstrate some care and attention for the education system.