Usona Learning Centre closes its doors

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A special school for dropouts in central Alberta closed its doors after losing a lengthy funding battle to keep up with the rent and pay its teachers.

So far, no one has declared the Learning Centre officially dead. But education workers for the region say there are no teachers, students or other staff at the school building in Usona, about 100 km south of Edmonton.

"As far as we know, the Learning Centre is closed," said Fred Joben, Indian Affairs regional education director.

Education staff from Hobbema's Louis Bull band, which had a number of students in the school, said operations have been halted, at least for the time being.

School principal Jody Janzen could not be reached for comment by Windspeaker deadlines.

Joben said many of the students who were enrolled in the school have returned to their regular schools. He also said Indian Affairs has offered to establish a special needs school at Hobbema that would be run under the Louis Bull Band's education department.

The Learning Centre had been serving more than 50 students from Hobbema and the surrounding area who had dropped out of the regular school system since the September opening.

It went public with its financial problems at Christmas when threatened with eviction from its seven-room schoolhouse for not paying rent. Throughout the winter, the school managed to stay one step ahead of its debts by a series of last-minute reprieves and teachers willing to work on a volunteer basis.

At the heart of the centre's financial problems is a debate between school backers and the Indian Affairs department over who should be responsible for financing the operation.

When the school opened in September, it received regular private school funding from Indian Affairs to pay for educating the 20 students enrolled at that time. But enrollment sky-rocketed in the first few months of the school year. Administration soon found themselves dealing with almost three times as many students as they had funding for.

Appeals to Indian Affairs for additional dollars were unsuccessful because many students were still formally enrolled in other schools which had already received funding for them.

While some of the issues surrounding enrollment were sorted out in meetings between the department and school administrators, debts continued to pile up because

no money was coming in to meet operating costs.

Indian Affairs refused to cover the mounting expenses, citing the deparrtment's policy of paying private schools only for educating students. The department does not cover other costs like rent or running bus service.

Janzen has fought the department's decision, saying education is a treaty right and that Indian Affairs is mandated to provide education for Native students no matter where they go to school.