The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Creighton School Board has stood by its decision to add high school programming to Creighton Community School, putting to rest a controversial issue that left many residents divided. The move comes after the trustees reviewed a petition, which organizers said was signed by about half the voters within the Creighton School Division, to have the matter reviewed further. "I would say emphatically that we made this decision in the best interests of the students and the school division," said Chairman Terry Brown. The board held a special three-hour meeting on Tuesday at Creighton school to discuss the petition. By a consensus vote of 5-1, the trustees agreed to proceed with their original motion. It was a bitter defeat for high school opponents, many of whom believe the present system, in which Saskatchewan students attend secondary school in Flin Flon, is what's best for students on both sides of the border. Buz Trevor of Citizens For Better Education, the volunteer organization that took the petition door-to-door last month, said the group is almost at a loss for words. "We're disappointed," he said. "We're not surprised. We think the board is determined that this is the action they are going to pursue." On a personal level, Trevor said he feels the board has not acted according to "what electors and students actually want." The high school is now most certainly a done deal. An official with Saskatchewan's Department of Learning told The Reminder that the high school vote cannot be overturned by a body other than the board. "It's the Creighton School Division's decision," she said. The news from Tuesday's meeting came as a relief to supporters of the high school who did not want the board to backtrack on its decision. "Oh, that's wonderful," said longtime Creighton resident Cynthia Fedak after hearing of the decision. "I think a high school is something we should definitely have. I think it will be really super to see all the kids graduate from Creighton school. I wish I could have graduated from Creighton school." Fedak said some people have unfortunately perceived the high school debate as a Creighton versus Flin Flon issue, which she said it is not. "I'm not against anything in Flin Flon... but Creighton is separate, regardless of what people think," she said. The Creighton School Board voted 4-2 on December 16 to add grades 10, 11 and 12 to Creighton school, one year at a time, beginning in September 2004. The vote came after a study concluded the move would be feasible. In an interview yesterday, Brown reiterated that the financial impact of the new high school was a key factor in the board's decision. The Creighton School Division currently pays tuition fees totaling roughly $900,000 to send Saskatchewan students to high school in Flin Flon. The grant money the Saskatchewan Government pays to the Creighton division is based on student enrollment. With enrollment at Creighton school projected to decline, so too would the funding. Brown said this would have meant the board would have had to eat into funding from Creighton's kindergarten to grade 9 system in order to continue to pay the tuition fees to Flin Flon. The influx of about 100 high school students into Creighton, he said, will permit the continuance of existing programs while at the same time offering Saskatchewan students a quality high school program. See 'No' P.# Con't from P.# "If we didn't do anything, within three years, financially, we would be facing a crunch where we would have to reduce our teachers by at least four positions," said Brown, "and if we didn't do that, we would have to cut programming and possibly raise taxes." And taxes are on the minds of a number of Creighton and Denare Beach residents who are worried the new high school program will see their rates rise. Brown called this "the biggest misconception there is" about the high school. "I can say, quite unequivocally, our school taxes will definitely not go up over the high school," he said. Others are concerned they did not have enough information to make a proper decision on the matter. Brown encouraged these people to take any questions they have to Creighton administrators or board members. "The administrators have already put together an implementation plan that will involve meetings with parents and have them involved in stages of our (high school) development," said the chairman. To help accommodate the high school program, an addition will be built onto Creighton school that will feature three classrooms, a science lab and a small storage area. The school division has hired an architect for the project and hopes to see construction begin this summer. The addition will be built atop the practical and applied arts labs. As for staffing, Brown said Creighton Director of Education Austin Gerein will recruit new teachers beginning next month. As well, several current Creighton school teachers have expressed an interest in teaching within the high school program. "Our first order of business is to figure out who will be teaching in the high school area and in which areas we need to hire," said Brown. In addition to all mandatory courses, the board says the high school will offer more than 50 optional courses, including calculus, chemistry, biology, psychology and computer science, even if enrollments are small.
