ISSUES IN SYLVAN SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1739
1916 TO 1930
2
The Sylvan School District had, itself been constituted in 1907 and had operated sporadically for a number of years until it closed for lack of students in 1915. Once formed, however, a district remained in existence for taxation and assessment even if schooling was not carried on and Sylvan remained in this state until 1921. Physically, its' area was relatively small, comprising some 10383 acres (1916) of mostly scrub brush and slough lying between Lake Wabamun and Lac Ste. anne. Out of a total of sixty-six quarter sections only forty-five were taxable and only seven settlers actually resided in the district, so it is obvious that the area subsisted on a rather precarious tax base. Fortunately, twenty-two of the parcels were owned by the Western Canada Land Company and, since it generally paid its' taxes promptly and in a lump sum, the district could depend on at least a small income each year.4 This was usually sufficient when the school did not operate since there were few roads to maintain, but complications arose when there were children in the district which had to be educated.
STUDENTS AND SCHOOLS
As was suggested above, one problem experienced by small districts was in securing enough permanent students to allow for the continuous and efficient operation of a school. In marginal districts like Sylvan, settlers were difficult to come by since the land was not highly productive. This was further exacerbated by the demand for men for service in World War One and an concomitant move to the cities of workers for a war industry short of labour. This being the case, it was not merely a coincidence that the school closed in 1915 and did not re-open until after the war. In writing to the Department of Education in 1918 Street outlined the reasons for a lack of students:
Some of the Farmers, with Families are on
Active Service; others gone to the States;
others gone away to earn a living... They all,
or some of them may return at any time with
their families...5
His final emphasis suggests a second problem often experienced by Sylvan, that of educating students who entered the district when the school was closed. From time to time settlers with school-age children did return to the district and provisions for teaching them had to be made, often at considerable expense and, many times, for nought if the family moved on again. Such was the case in August of 1916 when it was learned that a family with seven school-aged children had entered the district. Immediately letters went out to various banks and insurance companies announcing that the Sylvan School was reconstituted and that the building (which was little more than a granary in a settler's yard) would be in use. In addition, the Department of Education was informed and a request was made for it "to obtain a Protestant Teacher to commence duty about 1st September at a salary not to exceed $60.00 per month."; while to pay for this a tax of six cents per acre was levied.6
One week after this flurry of activity however, the then-secretary John Haigh disclosed that the family had decided to move to Edmonton and that the school would not be needed after all. In 1919 this same family returned to the district, causing a similar upheaval to that of 1916. The new Secretary Street was evidently familiar with them and treated their case with a good deal of scepticism. In a letter to the Inspector of Schools he states:
This last family coming in for the 3rd time,
probably only for a time is a "bolt from the
blue" for we know their past see-saw
movements. Probably, as soon as we have gone
too far to draw back, these shifting people
will shift back to Edmonton... And their
action means that the other 7 poor, hard-
working settlers, and the Western Canada Land
Co. have got to find $15 a year more from each
quarter section. Impossible.7
To add insult to injury, it seems this same settler owed four years in back taxes. In any case, Street's assessment of their flightiness seems to have been correct for the itinerant family soon moved once again and the school did not have to be reopened.
There were however five children in the district before the migrants' arrival and the solution to the problem of their education demonstrates an out used by many boards. Since small districts like Sylvan could not afford to operate a school for its' few children, especially if they migrated regularly; arrangements were often made with neighbouring boards which had a school to take them on. Naturally, the other district had to be compensated for this service and there was a regulation rate of thirty cents per day up to a maximum of sixteen dollars per year for each student which was paid to the board.8 In addition, the first board had to supply a conveyance for the children or, in lieu of that, a suitable cash equivalent was granted to the ratepayer to supply his own. This final condition often made for difficulties and expenses for the board in meeting its' obligations. For example, in 1920 a family with four children returned to the district and preparations were undertaken to have these children educated at Lac Ste. Anne School some three miles distant. This plan would have necessitated the repair of the road leading to the school site - an undertaking which, among other things, involved the erection of two bridges and the laying of a strip of corduroy road.
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4 Ibid; p.87
5 Ibid; p.38
6 Ibid; p.11
7 Ibid; p.45
8 Attached Letter; March 14, 1919
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