School divisions in Manitoba have been lobbying against Bill 64, the province’s Education Modernization Act, and the Prairie Spirit School Division held a virtual stakeholders meeting to give people their say on the issue.

Many trustees feel the new bill isn’t good for rural students, schools and communities.

Jan McIntyre is board chair with Prairie Spirit and she was pleased to see so many people registered for their stakeholder meeting.

“We had more than 100 people registered. I think people are concerned about keeping our schools in our communities, keeping children in the local schools and they are concerned about not having schools closed.”

Prairie Spirit has 29 school with about half of those Colony schools.

“The purpose of our meeting was to let people know they have an opportunity to speak to their government officials about this bill and their concerns with it. It allows them to meet other community members from other areas of Prairie Spirit who are also concerned. It helps empower community people to stand up and take action if they so choose.”

Divisions are under a tight timeline with the proposed changes set for July of 2022. The vote on Bill 64 is expected to take place this fall.

“Our division was formed by two amalgamations and voluntarily done for the betterment of our students. We’ve also had school configurations done with the blessings of our communities. We feel change is important but the changes proposed in Bill 64 we feel don’t benefit our students, schools or communities and we have serious concerns around the implications of these changes” said Jan McIntyre.