Gleichen school slated for closure when East Consolidated School built
Jason Glabik
Times Contributor
Students from the Gleichen area could be attending a new school within a few years after the school division board recently made a consolidated school for the East Wheatland region a capital project priority.
The debate regarding the future of Central Bow Valley School (CBV), along with other rural schools east of Strathmore, has been going on for almost a decade.
The move toward a consolidated school, which would be built southeast of Standard, is to provide more choices for students, said Bevan Daverne, Golden Hills School Division superintendent.
“We want to have schools that are the preferred choice.”
Enrolment is declining at CBV, which means fewer options for students at the school. There are at least 45 students who are designated to attend CBV but choose another school. There are 90 students enrolled including 45 students from Siksika Nation who currently attend the school. The move to a consolidated school would also eliminate the need to have split grades, where one teacher instructs students of different grades.
The school division already dedicates additional resources to East Wheatland schools, Daverne said.
Spending has been 3.5 times higher per capita at the four schools in East Wheatland for the past two years.
CBV parent council chairperson Cara Sheppard stands behind the change to a consolidated school. Her older children graduated from CBV when it was a high school. They had access to strong after-school sports programs and more teaching staff. Her younger children are at CBV now and are missing out on all of the benefits that come with a school that has more students and therefore more funding.
“My 11 year old won’t see any of that (extra programs),” she said.
The school has great teaching staff and after-school programs, but the sports aren’t of the same caliber of other schools and youth may not be prepared to play on competitive high school teams when they attend, she said. Her daughter wanted more options and Sheppard said she drives her to a bus route so that she can attend school in Strathmore. There are others in Gleichen that undertake a longer drive to get their children on a bus to Strathmore for more choices, she added.
Having a consolidated school would allow service clubs and fundraisers to benefit the entire region, as opposed to one school, she said.
“It would be a great advantage to all four communities.”
CBV parent Mark Flebotte said the process of deciding on a consolidated school was flawed and doesn’t take a number of factors into account, such as safety.
The school division was pushing for a consolidated school from the beginning, he said, in an e-mail interview.
“They went into this with a set agenda and refused to listen to anything that didn’t fit their agenda.”
The process of public engagement was not done properly, and a legitimate poll was never carried out, he said.
“The committee that looked at school closure was made up of people who had publicly been calling for closing the school. Also nearly a third are employees of Golden Hills.”
Flebotte said he became involved with the process a year ago because of safety concerns. The EMS response time to CBV is five to 10 minutes and the response time to the proposed consolidated school would be 45 minutes, he said. Fire response is also closer for CBV.
Also, the plan relies on students who aren’t going to their home school to attend the new consolidated school. The consolidated school has to draw students who are attending other schools that already have lots of options. Flebotte is skeptical of how many will choose to attend the consolidated school. Siksika Nation students, for example, will be closer to Arrowwood, he said.
The debate regarding the East Consolidated School and accompanying closures has been challenging and the division has tried to get as much public response as possible, Daverne said.
“Certainly, we’ve done the best we can.”
Golden Hills School Division documents relating to the East Consolidated School project are available at www.ghsd75.ca. Follow the ‘East Wheatland Information’ link on the home page.