East school proposal announced

Times Contributor

 

After three months of meetings, the Golden Hills School Division’s (GHSD) East Wheatland Working Group is proposing closing the four area schools in favour of a consolidated K-12 stand-alone school for 350-400 students, to be located somewhere along Highway 561 between the junctions with Highway 840 (south of Standard) and 842 (south of Chancellor).

Over 200 East Wheatland residents gathered to hear the details of the proposal and give their feedback at an information sharing night organized by GHSD on Monday, March 19 in Strathmore. 

GHSD Superintendent Bevan Daverne, who facilitated the working group, presented the proposal to the meeting, noting the time frame is tight as the GHSD board needs to make a decision on the issue at its March 27 meeting in order to meet the April 1 deadline for capital plan submissions to the province. 

The best case scenario for a start on a new school, if the board approves the proposal for its capital plan and Alberta Education accepts it, would be three years following an announcement of funding, according to a FAQ sheet produced by GHSD on the stand-alone school.

The amount of support is uncertain, based on conversations with individuals after the meeting. 

Rockyford resident Fiona Elder said she was not happy with the location. With four children ranging from Grade 10 to not yet in school, she said she had hoped to keep a school in her community to which her younger children could walk. 

Concerns were raised about the surveys—how the questions were worded and how the results were compiled. 

The questions seemed designed to get a pre-determined result i.e. a stand-alone K-12 school, said Ron Corbiell of Standard. 

He also questioned giving extra weight to the responses of parents, since there is no such distinction when it comes to paying education taxes. 

Others have concerns about the accuracy and completeness of the research done concerning the costs of a stand-alone. 

How is it that GHSD’s presentation to Wheatland County in 2010 for a similar project estimated the cost of water and sewer at approximately $2.6 million but now they are estimating a cost of less than $500,000? asked Alan Larsen, Mayor of Standard. 

Others thought the proposal was a good one. Corey Fischer, a former GHSD trustee for East Wheatland, said he always supported a stand-alone K-12 and hopes to see this go ahead.

Erich Hoff from the Gleichen area said the working group took on an impossible task, and that any kind of progress on this issue is impressive. Bottom line, we need a new school in East Wheatland he said.

While not her first choice, Sherri Skibsted who farms near Rosebud said she could support the stand-alone, but wondered what kind of commitment the schools could expect from GHSD in terms of funding and staffing in the interim.

She also wondered if the project goes forward, what kind of support Standard school, the designated high school for East Wheatland, could expect from those parents who are currently sending their children elsewhere. Would they be willing to send their kids to Standard in the interim to get numbers up and begin implementing the improved programming before a new school is built? she questioned.

Several wondered if there was a “plan B” i.e. if for some reason a stand-alone K-12 couldn’t be built in the proposed location outside of Standard if the working group had an alternative in mind—something other than just status quo. When asked, Daverne said there was no “plan B”, simply the options presented to the meeting of a stand-alone or status quo. 

In a 45-minute presentation (which can be accessed on the GHSD website www.ghsd75.ca) Daverne showed how the working group, made up of East Wheatland parents, arrived at their proposal based in part on two Internet surveys of residents.

The working group concluded fairly early on that given declining area enrollment, changing demographics, aging facilities and the fact that East Wheatland schools are not necessarily the first choice of residents (there are 306 resident students attending East Wheatland schools, but there are 150 resident students GHSD knows of who attend schools outside the area) While in some communities a K-6 school is satisfactory now, they did not believe this situation was sustainable.

A consolidated K-12 would mean programming benefits such as an end to split grades in elementary, and a high school enrollment of 100 or over would mean no more combined classes (e.g. pure and applied math students in the same class) as well as more options for students. 

Based on the results of the first survey, which asked where respondents were on the continuum between more choices for students and having a local community school, the working group decided to investigate the possibility of a stand-alone school outside any community. 

The working group began looking at the major issues involved in a consolidated K-12 including the availability of land, the cost of services, and student safety, all issues that were brought up when GHSD previously proposed a stand alone K-12 for East Wheatland 2 years ago. 

According to the information gathered and presented, building a K-12 outside a community would be as possible, cost effective and safe as if it were built inside an existing community i.e. Standard. 

Daverne noted there are over 30 stand-alone schools in Alberta, built between 1940 and 2005, so it is not uncommon.

Concerning land and services, Wheatland County maintains a Municipal Reserve Fund, $1.68 million of which is designated for school projects, which GHSD could apply to for purchase of land and installation of services for the site. 

Regarding water, Daverne said they projected approximately $25,000 for well drilling, pumps and storage tanks; $30,000 for setting up treatment facilities and between $2,000 to $3,000 or less for annual maintenance.

Sewer would be more expensive at $375,000 for the initial set-up and an estimated $7,000 a year for maintenance. Daverne noted this is less than what GHSD currently pays for water bills in similar sized schools in a town. 

Both the water and sewer would require approval by the appropriate government agencies.

Another issue was the feasibility of building a school to the standards required by the province for all new buildings i.e. silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Daverne said the research indicated building a stand-alone to these standards would not be significantly more difficult than if it were in Standard.

In comparing emergency response plans for existing stand-alone schools in the province, Daverne said they were not appreciably different from what is followed in GHSD schools. 

Based on proposed routes to a stand-alone, busing times would be 20 per cent shorter, and express routes from each community would be in operation.

The working group then conducted a second survey, asking if respondents could support a consolidated K-12 as a stand-alone or in Standard. The results showed that 69 per cent could to some degree support a stand-alone (i.e. ranging from would only support a stand-alone to would prefer it in Standard but would be willing to support a stand-alone) while 63 per cent to some degree supported the school being in Standard (i.e. ranging from would only support the school in Standard to would prefer a stand-alone but would be willing to support a school in Standard). 

The deciding factor in the working group opting for a stand-alone was the fact that when only the responses of parents with children in school were considered, then the balance shifted to 74 per cent supporting to some degree a stand-alone and 58 per cent supporting the school being located in Standard. 

Explaining why the responses of parents were given more consideration, Daverne said at the end of the day parents are the ones who decide where the kids will attend, and for this project to succeed it needs a broad base of support.

Following the presentation, those in attendance had the opportunity to give feedback to recorders at each table. 

One question asked people if they could support the proposed stand-alone or if they wanted to maintain the status quo (K-8 in Gleichen, K-6 in Hussar and Rockyford with K-12 in Standard).