Seven-year wait too long for new Tabusintac school

Six years.
That’s how long it’s been since I wrote my first story in this newspaper about Tabusintac needing a new school. It was 2003 and the Tabusintac Rural School had already been closed for a year because of a mold problem. Within a week of the closure the school’s students and staff were moved temporarily to a former elementary school in the neighbouring French community of Brantville. They’ve been there ever since.
Over the years I wrote a lot of stories about a Tabusintac coalition’s struggle with the provincial government to get a new school for their community.
The coalition, made up of representatives of the Tabusintac Home and School Association, Tabusintac Rural School Parent-School Support Committee and the Tabusintac Community Centre Inc., have been committed to bringing a quality school and community centre to their area throughout these long years. But it’s been slowgoing, frustrating and disappointing.
Three education ministers – Dennis Furlong, Madeleine Dube and Kelly Lamrock – have overseen the file during the seven years Tabusintac has been without a school.
Every year the powers-that-be from the Department of Education and the District Education Council made the same noises about how a new school for Tabusintac was top priority for the coming year’s budget, and every year Tabusintac was passed over again. After a while, being passed over was something everyone involved came to expect, as regular as Christmas.
But on Nov. 1, 2005, Dube visited the Tabusintac students and teachers at their temporary school in Brantville and promised them a new school in their community.
"This year, we have allocated $250,000 for the Tabusintac Rural School project," Dube said back in the day. "Upon completion of the project the department estimates a $3.3 million investment in a new state-of-the-art school."
The coalition had finally won after years of struggle and everything was all flowers and rainbows for a while. But not long after, Dube lost her job when Shawn Graham’s Liberals swept into power and the Tabusintac school issue was put on the back burner again.
And just last week, this newspaper reported how Lamrock had told the coalition in May that it wouldn’t be getting its school after all.
"At that time the minister informed us that basically the government was no longer interested in our project,” said Fraser McCallum, a representative of the coalition.
After a public meeting Wednesday night, community members decided they will hold a support rally today (Monday) at 11 a.m. at the community hall in Tabusintac, McCallum told this newspaper. And he’s not too impressed with the way this government has ripped the new school from their hands.
"As far as we're concerned this government has no word. They haven't dealt with us fairly,” he said.
Jody Holmes, the vice president of the coalition didn’t mince words either.
"We're extremely disappointed and frustrated with the lack of support for this project by the current government," Holmes said.
"It's time for this government to show some leadership and support in this area of Tabusintac, it's gone on too long and we're upset."
It has gone on too long. Everybody knows if this school was in Moncton, Saint John or Fredericton it would have been built within seven months. But seven years of frustration and disappointment later, Tabusintac is still waiting. Just goes to show what this government thinks of the rest of the province.