It's back to school this week for thousands of children across Newfoundland and Labrador, but not for some in Red Bay, Labrador, where some parents are keeping their kids at home and blocking the lone teacher from entering the school to protest a decision to cut back on staff.

Basque Memorial School, which has eight total students this year, has been dropped to a single teaching position to cover five grades ranging from kindergarten to Grade 8. Last year, with six students and one fewer grade to teach, the school had 1.5 teachers.

Parents are upset at the reduction in teachers, and wonder about the quality of education the children are getting. They also have concerns about child safety given that there is no back-up teacher at the school in case of an emergency.

"We feel that one teacher is not enough for all those grades," Vicki Hancock, who has a child at the school, told the Labrador Morning Show Wednesday.

Hancock was among the parents who kept their children out of school since Wednesday, the first day back, and protested outside the building. Those protests continued Thursday and Friday. She said the parents of the Basque Memorial students are in agreement about the situation.

Basque Memorial School is technically open for the year, but parents have blocked the lone teacher from entering as part of a protest over cuts to the teaching staff. (Provided by Jackie Belbin/Facebook)

In a statement to CBC News, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) said it is committed to providing a "a safe, secure school experience and are working with our educational partners to ensure their timely return to class."

"From an operational standpoint, Basque Memorial is open for the school year. However, we understand some parents and members of the community are preventing the entry of students and staff to the building," the statement reads.

"While the District acknowledges the right of parents and school communities to demonstrate peacefully and express their opinions, we would expect that such activities would not result in a loss of instructional time for students."



One teacher, five grades

One of the concerns for the parents centres around the single teacher's need to balance teaching several grades with very different needs.

"I really don't see having a kindergarten student in with a Grade 8 while they're doing exams and other stuff," Hancock said.

"It's pretty distracting for them."

Allocations for teachers are provided annually based on expected enrolment, said the school district, adding that the allocation for Basque Memorial is comparable to schools of a similar size. Once enrolment is confirmed for the 2018-19 school year, the district reviews the allocation to see if there are changes from the expected enrolment reported the previous spring.

Hancock's understanding was that decisions about the number of students in a school are made based on a student-to-teacher ratio, but in small multi-grade schools like Basque Memorial that may not work, she said.

"I don't think they really took into consideration the amount of grades that they will be having this year."

Parents gathered outside Basque Memorial School in Red Bay on September 5 to protest a cut from 1.5 teachers to one. (Provided by Vicki Hancock)

There are also concerns about the quality of education students can receive from a single teacher.

The parents have been told that French will not be offered at Basque Memorial this year, despite being a core subject, because the only remaining teacher isn't qualified to teach it, she said.

"It doesn't really seem right for my child not to be able to be offered French," said Hancock, who also assumed that extracurricular activities won't be offered.

The district is exploring "a number of options" to bring French instruction to the school, and parents will be made aware of that, the NLESD statement read.

Questions about safety

In addition to the concerns about educational quality, there are safety issues as well, she said.

With only a single teacher in the school it's unclear what happens if a student has a behavioural issue and needs to be separated from other students, or if there is an emergency that requires the teacher to leave with a student, she said.

The school district will provide Basque Memorial with supports like guidance counselors and program specialists at the district level, the NLESD said in its statement.

One change for the year is that parents will have to pick up their children for lunch between noon and 1 p.m. because the teacher needs a lunch break.

Red Bay is a community of about 160 people on the southern coast of Labrador.

Last year these logistical concerns were mitigated by having an additional half-time teacher, Hancock said.

"It seemed to work fine," she said, with two teachers around to help out.

The parents haven't been given a clear reason for the reduction in staff, Hancock said, despite meetings with the school board, the senior educator and the assistant director of education. They haven't heard back from their last meeting in late spring, but Hancock said the parents were clear about how the school year would start if nothing changed.

"In June we did say that if we didn't get any response that we wouldn't be sending our kids this morning."

Concerns about younger grades

Busing to another community for school is an option worth exploring for older students, said Hancock.

The nearest school to Basque Memorial, which goes up to Level 3, is about 50 kilometres from the next nearest one in L'Anse au Loup. It's possible that students beyond Grade 7 could travel to Labrador Straits Academy, which has more than 100 students, she said.

"I can see keeping K-6 here, but after that there's no reason why we can't go to the next community."

However, that solution isn't likely to appeal to parents of younger children and Hancock is concerned that parents with younger children may decide they can't live in Red Bay if the school is lost.

"There's a couple young families here in the area and if kindergarten is taken out of our community, I really can't see these young people staying here."

With files from Labrador Morning, Terri Coles, Stephanie Kinsella

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