Dale Hudjik is a resident of Edmonton. He does not live in a community threatened by school closures. Nor do his children attend a school under possible closure. Dale Hudjik offered these views to EPSB because he supports sound decision making in the interests of all children. (Presented to EPSB 9MAR10)

“Becoming a Better Board Member,  A Guide to Effective School Board Service” (3rd Edition 2006) National School Boards Association provides the following council to their members:

“How Big Should a School Be? …a more useful measure than cost per square foot…is the amount of space provided per student. And like most other measures of school facilities, that number is on the rise. School sites are larger these days, too—commonly twice as large as in the 1960s”

“…School Planning and Management magazine reported the following median square feet per student…:

• Elementary schools: 125 square feet per student, an increase of 17 percent in a decade.
• Middle schools: 145 square feet per student, a 14 percent increase since 1994.
• High schools: 168 square feet per student, an increase of 12 percent.”

This translates into 11.6 sq. m for an elementary student, 13.5 sq. m for a junior high student and 15.6 sq. m for a high school student.

But, are the numbers solely the important thing or are the children?

Another article in “School Planning and Management” states:
“Program, not arbitrary space goals, should determine how much space you provide in your schools. But do keep one thing in mind. If you build a school with 1970 space in the year 2010, you’re already 40 years out of sync.… The need for space to house mandated and desired programs continues to grow. It’s a lot less expensive to provide a little extra space today than it will be to add space in the future.” [1]

[On] “Designing Schools for the 21st Century… A… report issued by the American Architectural Foundation and the Knowledge Works Foundation makes these recommendations:…

• Foster a small school culture. Some school districts have divided large schools into two or more smaller ones to allow a more intimate learning environment and encourage relationships and attachments.
• Create schools as centers of community.…

12, 14 or 16 square meters? —EPSB’s Total Operating Area divided by the Provincial Capacity, the number that EPSB’s administration has chosen to use for facilities planning, is only 9 square meters [2].

It looks to me that this choice has placed the welfare of children in the middle of a dispute between Alberta Education and a School District. If this is the case, it is wrong.

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[1] School Planning and Management, May 2006
[2] From EPSB 10-Year Facilities Plan 2009-2018: Total Operating Area for 2007/8 in square meters is 1,004,072 and the Provincial Capacity is 110,984. 1,004,072 divided by 110,984 is 9 square meters.