 Concerned parents and community members will gather outside the Regina public school board office Tuesday evening at 6:15 p.m. to protest school closures. Among their concerns is new data that reveals the board's closure plan almost exclusively targets First Nations and low income communities. For example, 14 of 18 schools targeted by the closure plan serve neighbourhoods where the aboriginal population is 15 per cent or more. None of the closures will occur in areas where the aboriginal population is uniformly below three per cent. Photo: North Central's Herchmer Community School, slated for closure in June.Based on these and other concerns, the group RealRenewal is calling for a stop to the plan. They will hold a rally and petition launch at 6:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the Regina Board of Education office, 1600-4th Ave.
Below are details of some of the data compiled for RealRenewal by SaskTrends Monitor:
In total 18 schools have been targeted for potential closure or merger, with 14 fewer schools as the final outcome. Looking at the catchment areas for these 18 schools: 14 (78 per cent) include census dissemination areas (neighbourhoods) where the aboriginal population is 15 per cent or more. 3 (16 per cent) include neighbourhoods where the aboriginal population is 9 14.9 per cent. 1 (6 per cent) includes neighbourhoods where the aboriginal population is 3.9 8.9 per cent. Zero
closures or mergers will occur in school catchment areas where the
aboriginal population is uniformly less than 3 per cent. And
14 (78 per cent) include neighbourhoods where 30 per cent of households are low income. 4 (22 per cent) include neighbourhoods where 15 29 per cent of households are low income. Zero closures or mergers will occur in catchment areas where the low income incidence is uniformly less than 15 per cent. Related facts...Beween 1996 and 2006 Regina's aboriginal population increased by 25 per cent. Demographic
suggest this trend will continue. In 2006, 36 per cent of aboriginal
people were in the 18-34 age group, compared to 29 per cent of
non-aboriginal people. Figures compiled by SaskTends Monitor.
Aboriginal data: 2006 census. Income data: 2001 census. For more information about school closures, visit www.realrenewal.org
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