Christ the Redeemer School Division will be holding a special meeting to decide the fate of St. Luke’s Outreach School in the valley.
The Board of Trustees at Christ the Redeemer have passed a Notice of Motion regarding the potential closure of the Outreach Centre in Drumheller at the end of 2019-2020 school year. The vote is scheduled to take place on May 28.
Prior to the vote, a public meeting is being held on Tuesday, April 21. While the meeting is slated to be held at St. Anthony’s School, because of a prohibition of public gatherings it may be held online.
Christ the Redeemer Superintendent Scott Morrison tells the Mail there are a couple of different reasons the board is contemplating closing the Outreach Centre.
“The first reason is the funding structure for the Outreach has changed slightly. The Ministry used to provide funding for each outreach site, for the cost of the facility, and it has been reduced fairly substantially for us,” he said.
Christ the Redeemer currently operates four Outreach Centres, with campuses in Brooks, High River, and Okotoks. These provide a non-traditional school setting, offering curriculum for students who require a more flexible approach.
Morrison notes the enrolment at the Drumlin Outreach is also low.
“If it serves over 20 kids it would be something we would consider viable and a sufficient demand,” said Morrison. “Enrolment has been around 10 for several years, so there just isn’t really the demand there.”
He says in the event of a closure, students are encouraged and welcome to enrol at St. Anthony’s School.
“We know we can take good care of them at that building,” said Morrison.
The meeting is on Tuesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. Those who are able to video conference via Zoom can go to www.redeeemer.ab.ca to link to the meeting. Those who are not able to videoconference can dial into the meeting at 1-438-809-7799 and enter meeting ID: 349 373 435.
St. Luke’s is currently closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
