The Clearview school board discussed possible changes to the Stettler school complex and Stettler Outreach School at the board meeting on Thursday, April 10.
On April 1, superintendent John Bailey and assistant superintendent Peter Neale met with the Stettler schools’ principals for a second time to discuss how to address deficits at the middle school and outreach school and possibly sharing services among the schools to save on costs.
Neale said cutting back on costs is possible, “But not without some pain, and I think we need to recognize that.”
Nothing is set in stone yet, but the following was discussed at the two meetings and will continue being discussed next year:
For the Stettler Outreach School, the board will discuss moving the location or negotiating a new agreement, as the current lease for the building is $48,000 a year. Since the students at the outreach school have different needs, it would be detrimental to the students’ education to reduce staff. As well, there are not many significant opportunities to save on supply costs.
For the elementary school, the board will discuss sharing a teacher and teaching assistant between the elementary and middle school. Like the outreach school, it is not feasible to try to save on supply costs.
For the middle school, the board will discuss sharing a language teacher between the middle and high schools. The two schools have a similar timetable that allows for staff sharing.
For the high school, the board will discuss reducing staffing by three positions, with the possibility of four if needed, and reducing supply costs by $20,000.
Trustee Cheri Neitz objected to reducing teaching positions, saying that the students need to have the best education possible. She suggested sharing secretaries and other administration positions between schools.
“I just want to make sure we keep as many teachers as possible,” Neitz said.
Neale said that when discussing reducing staffing, they start with staff that is farthest from the students.
However, reducing secretarial staff wasn’t feasible, especially at the elementary level where parents are more engaged and need more school support.
“Schools were very concerned about losing their secretary time,” Neale said.
Trustee Yvette Cassidy suggested having more conversations about possible solutions with parents and teachers. She suggested even asking students if they had any input.
“All of a sudden, we want to go in and mess up a formula that in a lot of people’s minds has been working really well,” Cassidy said.
Vice-chair Dave Goodwin pointed out that the division is not trying to fix something that’s not broken, but change something so that it works better.
The board will continue to discuss these changes in the coming year.