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Golden Hills chair encouraged by direction of Alberta Education

    The Golden Hills School Division board chair is optimistic about release of a 10-point plan by Alberta Education.
    The department has completed a consultation exercise, which included seven community meetings attended by 1,130 Albertans in addition to five Speak Out student forums. There were also online forums for residents to communicate their ideas.  On January 10 the government released its plan.
    “Parents, teachers, students and others have given me two types of advice: philosophical approaches that are best addressed in legislation and practical solutions to the challenges students face every day. Legislation will come forward in the spring, and work on practical steps will begin immediately,” said Thomas Lukaszuk, Minister of Education.
     Golden Hills School Division board chair David Price likes the report.
    “We are pleased to see that some of the issues that are of long standing have been recognized by Mr. Lukaszuk, and he is certainly speaking like he wants to move quickly on a number of issues and that is all good news for us.”
     According to a press release, the 10-point plan for education includes:
•    Reducing travel time for students who spend more than one hour on a bus and enabling students to better use technology when they travel.
•    Creating more opportunities for students to earn credits in high school and post-secondary at the same time.
•    Updating school design specifications to better support communities.
•    Co-ordinating building playgrounds and new schools.
•    Reducing the administrative burden for charter schools.
•    Supporting First Nations students by working more closely with the federal government.
•    Creating a stronger voice for parents in the education system.
•    Providing better information to increase the transparency, clarity and accountability of the education system.
•    Reviewing provincial achievement tests.
•    Examining the operational requirements of full-day kindergarten.
    Price is hopeful this direction will address some of the needs of Golden Hills. Flexibility is key.
    “The needs are different, and we are really looking forward to seeing how Mr. Lucaszuk recognizes and accommodates the differences across this province,” said Price.
    He adds there are opportunities in the various setting that education in Alberta is delivered.
    “There are opportunities for efficiency by being able to build on local strengths and opportunities and not being too stuck in a uniform, or one plan only approach. I think that what Minister Lukaszuk has said would at least, in our view, there is some interest in flexibility and perhaps different solutions for different cases. To be fair, he hasn’t said specifically that, but we are hoping that some of what he said means that.”
    One point that caught Price’s eye in the plan was creating more opportunities for students to earn high school credit and post secondary credit at the same time.
    “In a rural jurisdiction like ours this is pretty important, and has a lot of traction in the future, I believe, and I am sure it is a good thing for the province. If we can utilize existing space and allow the opportunity for students to pursue their various careers in an advanced fashion, or to be able to test drive and therefore reach a conclusion on what their career choice might be more efficiently… For us, there is the capacity, which we have, the interest, which we know students have. If we can have programs more readily available that can provide that opportunity, that has to be good for our students and our jurisdiction,” said Price.
    According to a release, from Alberta Education, all thoughts and suggestions Albertans provided are now being analyzed, and will be considered during the drafting of new legislation to govern Alberta’s education system, which will be introduced in the Legislature in spring of 2012.
    “The excitement will come with the reality as we see how this plays out. The willingness has been identified, how in fact that takes place remains to be seen,” said Price.

Operational budget finishes review

    Drumheller town council has finished reviewing the 2012 to 2014  draft operating budget. Although subject to revisions from council, the draft budget will put Drumheller in a $42,772 deficit for 2012.
    The good news is that the deficit will only occur during 2012. In 2013 it is estimated that Drumheller will be looking at a surplus of $81,278 and another of $334,962 in 2014.
    “If we have a three year budget we’re allowed to have a deficit as long as there is a surplus at the end of the three years,” said Acting Director of Corporate Services Bill Wulff.
    The Town of Drumheller made the switch to three year budgets in 2009; prior to that annual budgets were the norm.
    The advantages of the three year budget is that it allows for  more accurate planning of future projects and in the annual budget scheme, no deficits were allowed at all.
    Before being brought before town council, the budget went through an exhaustive process of creation and review at the department level. Town staff were tasked with scrutinizing each expense.
    “Nothing that we did in the budget reduced service levels at all,” assures Wulff.
    The bad news is taxes will be increased to keep service at their current levels. Expect tax increases of three per cent each year.
    The budget also assumes a 1.5 per cent increase to the Drumheller tax base.
    The biggest change in the new operational budget is the inclusion of the operating budget for the Badlands Community Facility. The town’s reserves were hit hard by the construction of the facility, but the budget includes for an injection of $600,000 into the town’s resources over the next three years.
    The budget review by council brought a few changes to light. Town staff are now going through the process of making those changes.
    The next step in the budget process is reviewing the water and sewer rates, an exhaustive process. Afterwards, the town will review the capital budget which has yet to be reviewed at the department level.
    It is hoped that by the end of February the operating budget will be finalized.

Charges withdrawn against two found in car with drugs

    Charges were withdrawn for two women who were alleged to have had more than $23,000 worth of cocaine and crack cocaine in a rental car passing through the area.
    The names of Penny Siles of Chestermere and Lacey Ironman were called in provincial court in Drumheller on Friday January 20. The two were charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
    On September 15 of last year the Drumheller RCMP  received a request from the  Calgary Police Service to assist in locating a vehicle that was alleged to have been used to transport drugs. Constables Jones and Maxwell located the vehicle and the investigation resulted in the discovery of $23,686 worth of cocaine and crack cocaine.
    Last Friday Federal Prosecutor Colin Kloot announced they would not be pursuing charges against the two in Drumheller. He noted that a new procedure has been initiated  in the Calgary jurisdiction.

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