Rhino's Ramblings - South Hill School Of Politics
By Robert Thomas – Opinion/Commentary
It has been something both school divisions – Holy Trinity Catholic School Division (HTCSD) and Prairie South School Division (PSSD) – have been wanting and working on for years and that is a new joint use elementary school on South Hill.
Ostensibly the new joint use school will combine four older schools and two school divisions under one roof. A new, updated and modern facility for Kindergarten to Grade 8 students up on South Hill.
The new school, is to be built somewhere on what was once to be the City developed Westheath Five and Six neighbourhoods is now for intents and purposes a new neighbourhood to be developed by the two school divisions with the school somewhere in it.
Pledge on the Holy Trinity School Division web-site regarding being transparent about the South Hill joint use school
HTCSD will replace St Mary’s School built in 1952, with an addition in 1994 and Sacred Heart School built in 1959 and then three additions in over 20 years.
Both HTCSD schools are overcapacity and have HVAC problems and a shortages of washrooms.
For PSSD they will close the aging Empire School built in 1909 and Westmount School which has developed into a horseshoe shape with the addition of portable classrooms since its original construction.
It all sounds all fine and dandy for most people until you take a look at some of the underlying factors.
South Hill’s Character And Background
The South Hill side of Moose Jaw developed from its initially started as a poorer working class neighbourhood where blue collar workers built their homes.
It was at one time the place where a good majority of the meat packing plant and CPR workers lived. It was traditionally the place where people were hard working and built themselves better lives.
This is the neighbourhood where great grandparents came with very little but through hard work bilt their families better lives.
As such South Hill developed from the smaller homes of the blue collar working class into a section of town where as the City expanded the homes became larger and more affluent built their homes on South Hill.
The neighbourhood at one time had its own very distinct character and flavour built on pride, toughness, self reliance and a lot of Ukrainian traditions tossed into it. The character is still there today but it is not pronounced as it once was.
South Hill was so much different than North Hill and the East Side they even had their own gang in the greaser and Bobby socks day called the South Hill Kings.
And this is where the problems in some way begins when it comes to the proposed new joint use school.
In more than a few people’s minds if you take away the school, you take away from South Hill.
Riverview Collegiate
Although Empire School may be for many beyond its serviceable age right next to it sits the much more modern Riverview Collegiate.
A building much newer than PSSD's flagship collegiates – Central and Peacock.
Also a building which is massively under capacity.
As South Hill's collegiate Riverview is set to have less than 100 students whenever the new school year begins given the Covid – 19 epidemic.
And this where enters Trustee Jan Radwanski who before his tenure as a trustee on PSSD was president of the South Hill Community Association (SHCA). To the beat of my knowledge he grew up there. It was also a post held by Councillor Crystal Froese.
At PSSD board meetings Trustee Radwanski has attempted to point out – despite being continually defeated – not only is there ample capacity at Riverview but also it goes against Division’s values. Values which are to help support the neighbourhoods and communities PSSD is in. For Trustee Radwanski in my opinion it seems foolhardy to simply bus the kids from Empire School somewhere far off into the west just east of the Alberta border.
It’s something Trustee Radwanski has brought up on numerous occasions – the preservation of the Empire School neighbourhood. It is the old addage, the loss of the school is the loss of the community that was once there. The end of the South Hill flavour.
“This goes against our core values”
When PSSD approved putting in the $40 million request for the new joint use school Trustee Radwanski said he did not oppose moving students from Westmount School to a new joint use school but Riverview Collegiate should be repurposed to keep Empire School students closer to home.
Trustee Radwanski said at PSSD's March 2018 board meeting “Empire (School) services a unique geographical area on South Hill and Riverview is at 27 percent (capacity).”
He further went on to state “this goes against our core values,” calling the Board’s moves a “disservice for the quality of life in Moose Jaw.”
At a later meeting Radwanski would re-appear with his opposition to the larger joint use school showing how a footprint of Swift Current's joint use school (about the same size as the school proposed for South Hill) would impact, and not fit when superimposed onto two suggested locations.
In both instances PSSD chair Tim MacLeod, and now SaskParty candidate in the Moose Jaw North constituency, passed the gavel and publicly debunked Trustee Radwanski.
SEE RELATED - Trustee Receives Strong Words
Trustee Radwanski would respond when is a good time?
Public Consultations
In an April 2019 Q and A on the HTCSD web-site there is a chart as out the positives and negatives of the process so far in the development of the joint use school plan.
Under the heading of Concerns there is one comment which stands out “Lack of public input from the public side.”
Another comment under the Concerns heading is “Location going to be voted on in a public forum” and finally a concern “Joint school being too big.”
Some of the concerns listed about the South Hill Joint Use School on the Holy Trinity School Division’s web-site
Although a planning document only from the HTCSD it does point out the same concerns raised by Trustee Radwanski from PSSD.
In the public consultations the issues were discussed and those who attended ranked from one to four their top choice between Westmount, Sacred Heart, Couteau West and Currie Heights. And a response came in verbally for Spadina West.
June 24, 2019 Public Meeting Reponses Summary
Following the public consultation sessions the submissions went back to the planning committees who in the end decided on a location and worked cooperatively with the City behind closed doors to amicably hash out a deal for the property.
But is this what really happened? Is there any way to really find out what happened behind closed doors?
Well there is a little tool designed to keep our governments, boards and agencies accountable and it is called a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. And yes I used them in this case.
In documents acquired by MJ Independent through a January 15, 2020 FOI request to the Department of Education the proposed joint use school initially looked at three main potential locations.
They were Westmount, Sacred Heart and vacant piece of land on the west side of Westmount. (See below.)
From there, according to the documents, the City did an assessment which looked at the impact of the project on park space, recreation opportunities, infrastructure, access and impact on the neighbourhood amongst others.
In a June 17, 2019 email from Sheldon Ramstead of the provincial Education Department to PSSD Director of Education Tony Baldwin the number of sites have been reduced to two – Westmount School and a vacant parcel of land on Coteau Street (Coteau Street West/Wellington Drive). Although the divisions could have other sites assessed but the cost would increase. (See below)
On June 24th, 2019 a public meeting was held where both PSSD and HTCSD would say there was four potential locations for the proposed joint use school.
In a 39 page report – omitted from the FOI because it may reveal budgetary decisions – KPMG did the final site assessment. The FOI documents do not state how many sites were assessed by KPMG.
The final report was distributed on September 13, 2019.
Following receiving the report the joint use school steering committee would begin final negotiations for the land from the City.
Councillor Froese Questions The Deal
At the February 10, 2020 meeting of Council the final deal between the City and school divisions was approved by Council.
The deal would see the City sell not just the land for the school but both Phase Five and Six of West Heath for $2,541,848 and the responsibility to develop the neighbourhoods to the school divisions and thru them to the Province.
“I understand the reasons behind amalgamating the schools but what I am not understanding is the process on how we are landing on having to sell the entire phase five and six, 34 acres when the school only requires 10 (acres) and the entire process around that…There is not a lot of context about this. It was discussed in-camera and I think citizens at home need to know how we landed at this,” Councillor Froese said at the February 10, 2020 Council meeting.
Councillor Crystal Froese would later unsuccessfully attempt to win the Moose Jaw Wakamow NDP nomination in March.
So just what happened with this deal?
On September 24, 2019 PSSD and HTCSD issued a joint press release (see below) announcing the West Heath location had been selected just 11 days after distributing the final KPMG report.
Joint PSSD and HTCSD press release annoucing the site location of the South Hill joint use school
Although it looked legit and the other three local media outlets ran with it can you notice anything missing? It takes years of experience to notice it but where is the quote from Mayor Fraser Tolmie in the joint release? As a politician and the Mayor, likely looking to be re-elected, would Mayor Tolmie not be saying something about how great this was for the City of Moose Jaw?
Could the school divisions have simply released the final Westheath location unilaterally without telling the City? And if so why? Could they have done it to put political pressure on the City by using the media release and public pressure to do it?
As strange as it seems in my opinion this is exactly what happened.
In an October 16, 2019 letter from City Manager Jim Puffalt to both school divisions Puffalt expresses the City's opinion about not being consulted on the announcement.
“The fact that there was no formal communication between the School Divisions and the City/ as the landowner, regarding this location prior to the public announcement is regrettable,” Puffalt wrote. (See below)
October 16, 2019 letter from City Manager Jim Puffat to both school divisions for announcing the joint use school location without informing the City
The letter would go on to state how the moves by the two school divisions had impacted the City's development plans and how the City had already spent $300,000 in design and development and the predicted potential net loss to the City was an additional $2.1 million for a total of $2.4 million. Notice the letter went out to all Moose Jaw City Council members and was in my opinion discussed in-camera at the time. (See below)
Jim Puffalt letter to the both school division’s outlining how much the City has sent on Westheath and expected to make
On October 23, 2019 Baldwin would write an email on both PSSD and HTCSD's behalf to Puffalt apologizing for their unilateral action.
“I'm sorry that our process has added challenges for your staff or for City Council - we certainly want the opportunity of a new school to be positive for all involved and to honour the work and vision of the City of Moose Jaw,” Baldwin wrote. (See below)
PSSD Director of Education writes to City Manager to apologize and re-start negotiations
In the email to Puffalt from Baldwin there is one name omitted under FOI regulations.
In an email the next day on October 24, 2019 to the Ministry of Education Baldwin would ask if it was time to introduce someone of importance whose identity is withheld under FOI regulations.
“I'm game to do this, but wondering if this might be the right time for (name omitted) to introduce himself? I'm open to the advice of the team!” (See below)
October 24, 2019 email from PSSD Director of Education Tony Baldwin
The question was never answered in the documents as to who exactly is the ringer working on the project with the divisions.
Whomever the unidentified ringer is, he apparently in my opinion knows his politics as evidenced in an email from Sean Chase Director of Education\CEO for HTCSD on October 30, 2019 where he appreciated the mystery individual's “politically savvy approach.” (See below)
On November 25, 2019 Chase would share what he called his “plan” to share a “high level overview” with the HTCSD board but no hard copy of the minutes with a public report at a later time. (See below)
The City would remain silent during this time, they were working on finalizing the budgets, so much so that on December 12, 2019 Baldwin would email the team to see if he should say anything about the proposal.
“Not a peep from the City - no response, no acknowledgement of any kind. I'm wondering about a follow-up to see if they have any questions thoughts concerns?” Baldwin wrote. (See below)
December 12, 2019 email from PSSD Director of Education Tony Baldwin
The next mention would come when Councillor Froese would rise at February 10, 2020 Council meeting when she said she had some great concerns about what had transpired in-camera at the January 30, 2020 special meeting of Executive Committee.
The deal was done.
Westheath Phases Five and Six and their development were off-loaded onto the school divisions.
The City received their costs for developing the property plus in my estimation most of the profits they had expected to earn from developing Westheath Five and Six.
So what is the big deal you may ask?
Do you remember that small mission statment where it states “We are committed to transparency…” I have yet to see any of the documents released through the FOI on either school divisions web-sites? Have you?
We elect trustees on our school divisions or boards and in the end it all falls back on them.
Now can I say that the final location selected for the South Hill Joint Use School is a bad one, no I cannot.
But in my opinion, and remember this is an opinion column there certainly was a lot of back room politics going on right here locally to land a new school - and that in my opinion is not transparency and accountability.
And who was that mystery man?
I know who you are.
Rhino’s Ramblings is an opinion and commentary column that is based upon fact. It is NOT a news article. It is designed to get people thinking and to ask questions, express their opinions and make up your own minds. Opinions are unique to everyone if you would like to express yours feel free to write us a letter.