From the Leader Post today:
School's future in jeopardy
Karen Brownlee
Leader-Post
Friday, March 02, 2007
Just over five years ago, the people of Kennedy and Langbank were celebrating the opening of their brand new $3 million school. Now community members are putting the final touches on their presentation to the Prairie Valley School Board to keep the school in their town. On Saturday, they will have 15 to 25 minutes to make their final formal appeal at the division office.
While one would think the recent construction of a new facility would add to the strength of their pitch, Margot Tait wonders if the new building will encourage the board to take it from Kennedy.
"It's a portable school for the most part," said Tait, who is a member of Kennedy's school community council. "(It) could prove a disadvantage for us if they're looking at moving our portables to schools like Vibank's, which is going to need the extra room if some of the schools around that area close."
Some of those communities around Vibank, like Sedley and Francis, are meeting with the board on Saturday as well. In all, nine communities will appear at scheduled times through out that day. McLean will makes its presentation at the next board meeting. It is unclear if or when Odessa is meeting with the board again. Each will likely make very different presentations from the others, said board chair Rod Luhning. "There are different approaches and they're very focussed on the communities that they're coming from," Luhning said, of what he has heard and read so far from the 11 communities whose schools are under review in his division.
Tait believes Kennedy has a strong case and says with the school's 103 students, some community members have wondered why the school is even under review. The developing oil industry and the plans by air seeder manufacturer, Seed Hawk, to expand add to the community's need for a school, said Tait.
Sending a number of Kennedy's students to Kipling would only cost the board money in renovations to expand it because Tait said that school is already filled.
That's what Kronau resident Derek Fletcher hopes the board will also see when it comes to Saar School. Its elementary students would go to White City if the school closed, while the high school students would continue attending Balgonie's school. While Kronau is growing --it has sold six new lots recently and has up to 44 more available -- it is not growing as fast as Emerald Park which currently sends its students to White City. Four hundred lots are available there which could mean a few hundred more kids for White City's school in the future.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
1 comment:
Has anyone been following the news about the Carriere settlement? He was a government employee convicted of assaulting two female employees. His punishment = the government gave him over a quarter of a million dollars and more to come, possibly much more - but hard to find out as even the opposition doesn't know. Besides how injust this is to his victims (if anyone should get a cash settlement...) No wonder there is no money left for education and health care! How many of our schools could have run for a year on this amount of money? Who are these people running our province?!!!
Denise
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