The decision was described as difficult and emotional by Golden Hills School Division Vice Chair Larry Tucker. The senior high program at Carbon School will be closed at the end of the 2012 school year.
The Golden Hills School Division Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, May 22. On the agenda was a motion to close Carbon’s high school. The board voted unanimously to shut down the high school.
The following day, students had to face the reality that the school they had been attending would be no more next year.
“I met with the staff and students and discussed the decision and how we’ll go on,” said Carbon School principal, Kurt Ratzlaff. “The day after [Wednesday, May 23], the teachers said the students were a little unsettled. When I came in Thursday, they were starting to talk about the decision their families would make about where they would go.”
The motion was made in response to declining attendance in the Carbon high school program. There are currently 24 students enrolled, not enough to provide teachers for each core subject.
The school will also be reduced by one teacher, though no one is losing their job. Transfers, that had been in the works prior to the decision, will ensure the teachers are looked after.
“It had been talked about all winter, there were a lot of meetings and discussion, but when the decision gets made, it’s going to be emotional,” said Ratzlaff.
“The board looks at the situations and asks themselves how low is too low in enrollment. At what point do we have to consider the educational needs of kids versus whether or not parents want to have it stay open at all costs,” said Golden Hills School Division superintendant Bevan Daverne.
During the past several months, Golden Hills School Division collected feedback through a survey and meeting with parents and students in Carbon on April 19.
The feedback from parents and students was mixed. Some favoured keeping the program going, others felt that it was time to pursue other options.
Now that the decision to close the high school has been made, Golden Hills School Division will be looking at options for students. Staff will be looking at attendance boundaries to determine where students should go.
“We’ll be looking at the boundaries as to what makes sense, work with parents, and then present recommendations to the board,” said Daverne.
Options that had previously been discussed were to send all of the students to Acme or have students attend their nearest school, in some cases Drumheller or Three Hills.
“We’ve heard throughout this process, from parents and students, a desire to stay together. Kids who have grown up together from kindergarten to Grade 9 might want to stay together,” said Daverne.
Over the next few weeks, the school division will be phoning parents and asking for their feedback on where students should go.
“There are a lot of things to consider,” said Daverne . “We want to have conversations with parents to see what they think as well.”
Teachers and staff at Carbon School will continue ensuring that the remaining K-9 program is the best that it can be.
“We now want to proceed having the best K-9 school possible,” said Ratzlaff. “We’re looking at what we can do to offer the best programming for junior high and elementary school students. There are a lot of things that we’re going to do to still make it a great place to go to school.”