Parents in rural Alberta hamlet fight to save their 94-year-old school

The future of a small school in the northwestern Alberta hamlet of Dixonville is in question after years of declining enrolment.

Trustees with the Peace River School Division will decide before the end of April whether to keep Dixonville School operating or close it at the end of the school year.

The kindergarten-to-Grade 9 school has been educating children since 1931.

"The fact that it could be closed is really hard to hear," said Karl Sorensen, who lives in the hamlet 540 kilometres by road northwest of Edmonton. 

Three generations of Sorensen's family have attended the school, including his father, his aunt, his uncle, himself, and now his two children.

Before that, his great aunt was hired as one of the first teachers at the school. It's one of the reasons why he's determined to save it.

"We understand it's a small school, but we think it's very important for the community and the greater area to keep it open and hope for better times." 

"Better times" for the school means higher enrolment than it is seeing now.

In January, trustees asked for a viability review after estimates put the projected September 2025 enrolment at 26 to 31 students, down from the 43 students enrolled in September 2024.

A steady decline in enrolment over the past five years has been a concern for the division, but the projected drop below 35 students for 2025 would mean a large cut in provincial funding. 

"It's definitely not a great situation to be in, when you're discussing the possibility of closing down a school when you know that it is the heart and soul of this community," board chair Crystal Owens said in an interview.

"It's not that the school board wants it closed by any means. We offer great educational programming out there and we have amazing staff, but ultimately it comes down to the amount of students and the amount of dollars attached to those students."

Dixonville School qualifies for provincial funding through the Rural Small School Grant.

The annual funding is determined using an average enrolment calculation. With more than 35 students, the school received nearly $500,000 last year, but if enrolment falls below 35, funding would get cut by more than half.

"It's challenging because regardless of if there are 20 kids or 120 kids, insurance and utilities cost the same," Owens said on the impact of funding cuts. 

"We can juggle some things like staffing, but ultimately, when we don't get that funding to fully cover those costs  — because we're underutilized — we just have to pull it from somewhere else."

That means from another school in the division. 

According to the report, even with an adjustment in the number of staff, the school division would still run a deficit of almost $150,000. 

Changes to provincial funding calculations 

In an effort to help fast-growing urban school divisions, the most recent provincial budget adjusted the enrolment calculation it uses to determine funding from a three-year average, to a two-year average. Under the new calculation, 70 per cent of funding is based on anticipated enrolment, with the remainder based on current student numbers.

Owens said the change hurts rural school divisions that don't have the same density of schools or student populations. 

"Sometimes kids are on the bus for well over an hour to get to their closest school, but [the funding] is based on utilization so we don't get funded when our schools aren't full," she said.

In a statement to CBC, Garrett Koehler, press secretary for the Ministry of Education, said that in addition to the rural small schools grant, education funding also supports rural schools through a geographic grant. There is also money for building operations and maintenance, new this year.

"Alberta's government is aware of the school board's option to close the school, and we will continue to work with them to find the best way forward and ensure students in the area continue to receive a world-class education," the statement said.

Preparing for 'Plan B'

Parents in Dixonville are canvassing the catchment area to see if they can find any students that the division's enrolment estimate missed, and appeal to the province for more funding. 

"We want the funding back, even for a year, so we can see what our population is actually going to be," said Sorenson. "Let's not just close the school on a guess." 

Despite the hope that parents are holding onto, they said they are working on a 'Plan B,' which is to consider a charter school.

If trustees vote to close the school, the decision on what to do with the property would then be up to the province.

At that point, parents could approach the province to run a school themselves. 

"We've had conversations with [neighbouring charter schools] and it seems like it could be a viable option for our community," Sorenson said.

"We have found out we could get better funding and we could do our own thing, we could be in charge, we can run the school the way we want to."

The school itself is vital to Dixonville for more than education alone. It houses the community's library and greenhouse, and hosts dozens of community events.

Owens said she understands why parents would want to keep the building and open a charter school.

"It's a tough pill to swallow because we advocate for money to be able to keep these schools open," she said.

"But it's a reality that we might have to shut down a school and then within a year the government is giving money to open a charter school."