Trustees Vote Yes to Recommendation

At a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees tonight the trustees voted unanimously to accept the recommendation by the CBE's Community Engagement and Operational Planning department to close the Queensland Downs School in our neighbourhood. Each of the trustees talked during the debate and gave their reasons for supporting the recommendation. Fiscal responsibility was a common reason cited as was an awareness of the needs of all of Calgary's students. A full synopsis follows after the 'read more'.

The next school year will bring some new challenges and opportunities to Haultain Memorial. Just as we welcomed the Mackenzie Towne students and families into our school, we will do the same with our neighbours. The new kids will be coming from our own community and will fill our halls and secure the future of our school. As one of the Trustees says below, a combined school population represents a broader range of opportunity. More resources will be allocated, more teachers with varying degrees of engagement, more expertise for extra-curricular activity, larger scales of experience and outlook, more volunteers from the community are just a few of the things that will make our school stronger and our children's education more meaningful.

Meeting Synopsis

There seemed no question in the Trustee's minds that there was a clear need for closure in the area as there are so many seats and so few children to fill them. The only request for clarification centered around the new boundary and busing requirements.

Phil Carlton began the agenda topic and presented the precis. The floor was then opened to the trustees to ask questions. The trustees asked for clarifications on Diamond Cove walk zones and out of area applications and confirmed that there may be students physically closer to HMS but are allocated to Deer Run.

Trustee Bazinet gave a synopsis of the public meeting and outlined some of the concerns that were brought up then and by correspondence.

The Trustees were then given the opportunity to debate the topic before voting. Trustee Ferguson talked about enrollment projections and fiscal responsibility for all Calgarians, then gave support to the recommendation.

Trustee Kryczka said that the change we bring on ourselves isn't easy and that change imposed from the outside is even tougher but that the reality of the situation was clear: under-utilization in our area required action. The Mackenzie Towne busing was a boon to our community and gave a short respite to the closure considerations. She talked of the population of our area coming together in two schools giving us the opportunity for a wider range of expertise and extra-curricular activity choices. A range that couldn't exist for smaller schools. She gave her support to the recommendation.

Trustee Bazinet thanked the community for their thoughtful engagement and respectful involvement. She mentioned it was hard for any community that is used to the choice that comes with dual designation to lose options. She said that it was good that the trustees had the opportunity to visit, in person, each of the schools in question. She then gave her support for the recommendation.

Trustee Lane agreed that it was good to tour the schools and felt the recommendation was the responsible thing to do. Then gave his support.

Trustee Dirks felt the larger concern was too many seats and not enough students and gave his support to the recommendation.

Trustee King admitted to very mixed feelings and that it was a hard decision. She felt that the community had two very good schools evidenced by the strong support and thoughtful engagement she witnessed. She then gave her support to the recommendation.

Trustee Cochrane mentioned that the staff in place had her trust in easing the transition of the student body and gave her support to the recommendation.

There was no second round of debate and the vote was held.