The Clearview School Division’s school councils met with the school board last Thursday night to discuss any concerns brought forward by the school councils.
“We didn’t get all the issues sorted out, but we think it was a good first step,” said board chair Ken Checkel.
The school councils are made up of parents, teachers, principals and others interested in education and wants to be involved in the process.
The board generally tries to meet with the school councils at least once a year, but sometimes there isn’t enough interest to schedule a meeting. This year, the school councils showed interest in speaking with the school board.
“We thought it went great,” Checkel said. “There was a lot of really good conversation there.”
The people at the meeting broke off into groups to discuss the three biggest issues that came up.
Two of the issues had to do with funding. The school councils had questions about how the board allocates money among the schools.
“One of the big questions is, ‘What’s fair?’ ” he said.
The other funding question regarded how money was allocated among the four Stettler schools: Stettler Elementary, Stettler Middle, William E. Hay and Stettler Outreach.
The third biggest issue concerned the school calendar.
“It’s not just something that’s of interest to staff,” Checkel said. “It’s of interest to parents, too.”
He believes the meeting was a worthwhile process, because it improved communication between the board and the schools.
“We’re going to have to do this again and we’re going to have to keep doing it,” Checkel said.
reporter@stettlerindependent.com