Parents asking questions

Neil Chubbs is outraged with the possibility of St. Lewis Academy combining seven grades into one classroom.

Mr. Chubbs charged that school principal Susan Poole proposed to combine grades K-6, due to a declining student population.

"We're wondering now what we can do to stop this, basically, because it's ludicrous," Mr. Chubbs said. "There's nowhere else on the Island that this is going on; there's multigrading going on, it's fine with two or three lower grades, but putting teenagers in with Kkindergarteners, that's unheard of. This is a first for this."

Once reached by the Pen, Ms. Poole declined comment.

Mr. Chubbs, who has a child in preschool, said there was a meeting called for parents last fall to discuss the possibility of combining the grades.

"Everybody here is in disagreement of it," he said.

"You're going to have seven grades in the one classroom; you're going to have a five-year old sitting next to an 11-year old...maybe 13. It's so intimidating for a young child, five-years old, to go to a school anyway with 40 or 50 people, let alone to go sit down in a classroom with all these big kids."

So far, there is no conformation on whether the grades will be combined.

To get an answer as to the probability, however, Mr. Chubbs called the Western School District, which said it was looking into the possibility, though it's the decision of the school, he said.

"We can't get an understanding of why, why they want to do this," he said.

Mr. Chubbs also takes issue with there being one teacher, which means he or she will be forced to teach seven or eight minute lessons to each level, he said.

"Take health. What are they going to teach health in seven years' difference in children? They're going to teach my child to brush their teeth, and what are they going to teach 13-year olds? Might be a bit of sex ed. in amongst that. This is the problem we got," he said.

He was told by the school board that there would be a possibility of having more than one teacher in the classroom, he said.

To which he replied: "If they got two teachers to put into one classroom with seven grades, why don't they have from K-3 and 4-6? None of us knows why."