Parents in East Wheatland are one step closer to seeing a new school solution for the area.
A bylaw to designate a parcel of land in the East Wheatland area for a new regional school passed second reading by Wheatland County Council. The division is very hopeful that third reading will pass in the near future.
“We are very pleased,” said Golden Hills School Division superintendent Bevan Daverne. “We are pleased with the county’s decision and support for a new consolidated school for East Wheatland.”
The second reading passed by a vote of 5-2. Daverne says there are a few conditions they will be working through to satisfy the county before a final decision is made on the subdivision.
“We are looking forward to completing that as quickly as we can and then moving ahead with the rest of the process,” said Daverne.
If a third reading is successful, the next steps include development permits and other regulatory controls.
Daverne says the process is continuing and they are nearing the end of their conceptual design phase. The division has been involving the help of staff and parents to give input on design.
A group of parents is also committed to help raise extra funds to enhance the project with ideas such as increasing the size of the gymnasium or installing bleachers.
“It is very exciting, they are a well organized group who are looking at ways to make this project even better,” said Daverne. “We are supporting them and we are very appreciative of the work they are doing.”
With the conceptual design complete, they will begin to look at ways to maximize programming opportunities for the area.
“We have built into the conceptual design some of the elements we hope to take advantage for that kind of programming and support,” said Daverne. “We are looking at Fine Arts programming, so we built those elements into the design, we are looking at CTS programming, so we have shop, foods and fashion, and cosmetology facilities built into the design. We will have a full range of high school course offerings.”
They want to be ready to explore the possibility of partnerships.
“As we move further down this path we want to connect with businesses and post secondary education, and look at partnerships there to support programming within our facilities and elsewhere,’ said Daverne.
The consolidated school concept has been floating around for a number of years. After extensive research and consultation, the division was able to get the support of the province and the community.
Daverne said the community has remained supportive.
“We are seeing confidence from families across the area. As part of our process when we identified this piece of land, we held meetings in the four communities and actually phoned every parent with a child who we thought would be eligible to attend…we had very strong support from parents,’ said Daverne.
“We have had 10 years of declining enrollment in East Wheatland. With the process we undertook a few years ago and with all that the Working Group did, we have actually seen our enrollment stabilize.”
He said that timelines are dependant on the subdivision approval process, and this third reading needs to be completed before any further steps can be taken. The division is still aiming to have the new consolidated school serving students by September 2016.
“We are still within our timeline parameters to reach that goal, but at the same time we don’t want to slow any processes down,’ said Daverne.
“I think everyone will feel relieved to see a shovel in the ground.”
