The very existence of our school is unjustly threaten-
ed today. Religion, not geography, is the cause. Our
school, being staffed with Catholic teachers, is reputed
a denominational rather than a public school. This
year, as formerly, thirty—three Protestants from districts
outside Kinkora asked to be admitted, have enrolled
and become with the others one group, With never at
any time a cause for disagreement or religious con ten-
tion of any kind. Not once has a complaint in this
regard been made by children or parents.”

The letter went on to claim that Kinkora had a right to have
a regional high school because of having had the first rural
grade eleven in 1941, and the addition of grade twelve in
1955; and it went further to say that “only under duress and
with great resentment will they [Catholics in Kinkora Area]
be forced into any other unit3’34

In the end a compromise was reached satisfactory to all
sides: each of the four communities in East Prince County
would get a regional high school; and Kinkora would form
one regional high school district with Miscouche and four—
teen other, mostly Catholic, supporting districts. Table 11:4
identifies the sixteen districts in the unit.

Table 11:4, Kinkora-Miscouche Regional High School District35

Miscouche
St. Nicholas
Wellington Centre

Kinkora
Emerald
Maple Plains
Middleton
Newton

Bayside

Grand River-Richmond
Shamrock

North Carleton

Brookvale

Maplewood

Green Road

Kelly’s Cross

 

119

    

Ralph McCarville, “Chairman of
the struggle for the Kinkora
Regional High School.”

(Courtesy of Eddie McCarvilIe)

Kinkora’s new nine-room regional high school was built in
1962, at a cost of $250,000 of government money 36and held
its first graduation of 26 students in 1963. The first Prin-
cipal of the Regional High School was Sister Carmel Mac—
Donald, C.S.M. The first Trustees of the school were Ralph
McCarville, Kinkora; Bert McCardle, Middleton; and St.
Clair Croken, Emerald.

This controversy and its solution show how strongly
rooted were community loyalties and religious values.
While some Catholics and some Protestants were perfect-
ly satisfied to send their children to schools where the ma—
jority of the teachers were of the opposite faith, they were
not willing to support a policy which would mean commit—
ting their children and their taxes to such schools. Even con-
solidation was not going to change that cultural difference.
Nevertheless, consolidation did change these communities.