The word "viability" is not a recent addition to our language, and surely has been in use for a long time, but not necessarily in a common present application
Both Webster and Oxford dictionaries define the word, in a context of external judgment. I shall try to explain.
Usually, if correctly interpreted, the word refers to the likelihood of an embryonic element surviving and growing.
However, in recent weeks, months or years, it seems to apply to the continued existence of public and/or high schools in southeastern Saskatchewan. I was struck particularly by a large headline on the front page of the February 20 Weyburn Review. It reads as follows: "Community will fight to keep their school viable." Reference was to Lyndale School in the village of Oungre.
Given today's trend in the operation of schools - country schools in particular - I am not qualified to pass judgment on the continued life of this school.
But I am aware, as you are, of certain facts. When Saskatchewan first was settled by homesteaders mostly from Ontario and the U.S., availing themselves of farmland available for a song, it was a given that there would be schools established for offspring brought with them or subsequently born. There were no bus routes then, and most settlers did not own autos (not suitable for winter use in any case).
Without discussing or using the term "viability" as far as I know, little schoolhouses, often suitable for only a handful of children, were built, usually by volunteer labor. Under the circumstances, it was deemed feasible - indeed necessary - that these schools were only six to eight miles apart. I am certain the word "viability" never crossed a tongue. It simply had to be done; no questions asked.
Without any village history book handy to support my view, I am certain such a school was built in Oungre by the original residents. As the village grew, so did the school, with a high school added when feasible.
As centralized schools were established half a century or so ago, due to a variety of developments, it became desirable to bus children from surrounding areas to larger centers. An example is Queen Elizabeth School just north of the Weyburn Collegiate. The situation in Oungre surely was analogous.
Even that raised hackles in some situations. I remember in fall of 1958, being invited (I might say "commanded") by Suzie Gaught, the McTaggart school teacher, to be present at a meeting where mooted centralization was to be discussed. I obediently attended the meeting ably chaired by a sympathetic school board member, Pete McFadden, and dominated by the convincing and vocal protests of Mrs. Gaught, I was not surprised that McTaggart school was saved for at least one year. A controlling word was "sympathetic", as both sides really were reading the same page. I do not recall the word "viability" being uttered.
In Weyburn, when it was a mere hamlet in the Northwest Territories, School District 512 was quickly established, with classes commencing on December 1, 1899, in the community's Methodist Church. According to the well-known local history book "The Night the Cat Froze in the Oven", Frank Moffet was the first teacher for 31 pupils in Grades 1 to 4.
I refer to a column on the hamlet of Disley in this space of February 20 of this year. Disley, what there is of it, lies northwest of Lumsden, and although it never amounted to much of anything, it is stressed (in "Lumsden: The Hills of Home") that "1904 was a busy year with new settlers moving in. A school and church services were organized The school was built in 1905 with Miss Annie Connor as teacher."
In closing, I can only say that I take no sides in the Lyndale School matter. Persons much more qualified than I will, I hope, reach an acceptable and realistic conclusion. But I am simply saddened that a school system established by the sweat and determination of local people is now subject to judgment relying on the very external-sounding word "viability".
Box 400, 904 East Avenue
Weyburn, SK
S4H 2K4
Phone: (306) 842-7487
Fax: (306) 842-0282
E-mail: production@weyburnreview.com
This web page and its contents are copyright of the Weyburn
Review
A Division of Boundary Publishers Ltd.
