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.
Citizens For Better Education refuses to give up on its efforts to have the Creighton School Board rescind its controversial high school vote. About 16 members of the volunteer group met Sunday evening and decided they will continue to seek avenues to defer the addition of grades 10, 11 and 12 to Creighton Community School. "We're not rolling over and dying," said spokesperson Buz Trevor. But after the board voted to establish the high school and reaffirmed their vote at a committee of the whole meeting last week, what more can be done? For one, the volunteer group plans to contact Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert and the proper ministers regarding a statement the Creighton board made in a letter to parents and guardians of Creighton students. The letter stated that "no decision has been made regarding the addition of high school programming to Creighton Community School. The board would only consider such a decision after broad consultation with parents, staff, students, and the public at large." Trevor said that when the board obtained public input at two meetings in December, "parents and electors were led to believe that, given the level of concern, a final decision would be postponed for a year." This level of concern, he said, was confirmed by a petition, which organizers said was signed by about half the voters within the Creighton School Division, to have the high school vote rescinded pending further review of the matter. See 'Addition' P.# Con't from P.# Also at issue for the group is the planned addition to Creighton school to help accommodate the high school students. The addition is to include three classrooms, a science lab and a small storage area. The group has doubts the project can be undertaken for about $650,000, as architect Barry Prokop has told the board. Trevor said they will monitor the project to ensure the Creighton School Division has the necessary ordinances, and that it follows its budget. None of these actions are guaranteed to get the Citizens For Better Education the objective they desire, but Trevor remains convinced that the high school expansion can be stopped. "There has to be some mechanism. We just haven't found the mechanism," he said. What's motivating Trevor and many of those who agree with him is a belief that the Creighton high school will result in declined educational opportunities for youth on both sides of the border. The Creighton School Board voted 4-2 on December 16 to add grades 10, 11 and 12 to Creighton Community School, one year at a time, beginning in September 2004. The vote followed the release of a study that concluded the move would be feasible. The implementation of the program would see the Flin Flon School Division lose some 100 pupils and hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition fees, as Creighton and Denare Beach students currently attend high school at Hapnot Collegiate and Many Faces Education Centre. Trevor invites anyone wanting more information about Citizens For Better Education to contact him at 362-2530; Marilyn Dease at 688-4084; Greg East at 362-2331; or Bev Hill at 688-4541.
