Frustrated that city council refused to hold public hearings on the proposed joint-use school location, Jan Radwanski has started an online petition opposing the rezoning and closure of Westheath Park.
Radwanski created a petition on change.org titled, “Oppose rezoning/closing of Westheath Park in order to build a 1,100-student mega school.” The petition explains the history behind the desire for a new South Hill school — planning started in 2014 — and outlines the negatives of constructing it in the Westheath neighbourhood.
It also highlights how the project contradicts the City of Moose Jaw’s Official Community Plan (OCP), specifically sections 7.2.2(b), 7.2.2(d) and 13.2(a).
Prairie South School Division and Holy Trinity Catholic School Division plan to close two schools each — Westmount, Empire, Sacred Heart and St. Mary — as part of the project.
“Our community needs to be consulted on such an important choice of what elementary school renewal is for South Hill and where the new facilities are to be located,” the petition concludes.
Radwanski plans to present the petition at council’s regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 13 during public hearings on the area’s rezoning and closure of Westheath Park.
Council’s decision to not hold public consultations about the project’s location — as Bylaw No. 5642 dictates — and to fast-track the rezoning and closure procedures prompted the petition, Radwanski said by email. He believes the petition allows residents to voice their concerns about the planned rezoning and closure of Westheath Park.
An online petition is the best way the community can collectively show its opposition, considering the city’s timeline to submit comments allows only two weeks for responses, he continued.
By raising awareness and creating a petition, Radwanski hopes city councillors understand that this issue needs to be better reviewed.
“City council needs to stand up for Moose Jaw and see that the spirit of the community plan is followed,” he said. “This project goes against that plan, (which) asks that schools that serve more than one neighbourhood be centrally located, so we don’t have to bus 750 students and create traffic congestion in this hard-to-reach site.”
The OCP states that schools must be located next to parks and municipal reserves, but this proposed site will be an island in southwest Moose Jaw, Radwanski remarked. The site will be fenced, have zero parks, and not be adjacent to existing parks such as Smith, Optimist and Parkhill “that offer a superior environment for activities and learning.”
The former PSSD trustee is hopeful his petition will make a difference. He noted that this is the first attempt by both school divisions and the Ministry of Education to construct a new school in Moose Jaw using this process.
The three educational parties believe the school will cost about $44 million to build, while Radwanski expects it to cost $50 million.
“… (that) is an important expenditure in our city. Those are taxpayer dollars that are paid by Moose Jaw residents and we need to see if this project is not only a good idea but is of good value to our community,” he said.
The project proposes creating “a huge 1,100-student campus” with two pre-kindergarten to Grade 8 schools — public and Catholic — on a hard-to-reach site with no amenities such as parks, ball fields, soccer pitches, playgrounds, tracks spray parks or paddling pools, Radwanski continued.
He pointed out that during the only public consultation meeting held — in June 2019 — residents ranked Westmount and Sacred Heart as the preferred sites. However, a KPMG report — that the public has never seen — presented to PSSD trustees received in September 2019 proposed only Westheath.
“Are we making Moose Jaw an attractive place to raise a family by closing four long-standing schools and merging them at one isolated location with 21 buses and a tiny schoolyard with no adjacent facilities like Smith, Optimist and Parkhill?” Radwanski added. “Moose Jaw needs a say!”
