Splish splash truck bath
Josh Watson, Brad Green, Lisa Chaykowski,
Riley Gosselin and Stacey Quinn wash a truck at the Shell gas station on Saturday
afternoon. The car wash was a fund-raiser for the United Church.
photo by John Barlow
Okotoks high school outraged about report ranking
them as second worst in the province
By Gillian Beckett
Staff Reporter
A report which ranked Foothills Composite High School (FCHS) as the second
lowest achieving school among 25 other schools in Alberta has school staff and the
Foothills School Division crying foul.
The report, which was released in June by School Works! Inc. outlined the top 25
highest achieving schools and 25 failing schools based on the results of 1998 Provincial
Diploma and Achievement tests.
School Works! Inc. is an organization which ranks the learning achievements of students
in Grades 3, 6, 9 and 12 in schools within Alberta.
According to the test results of the 1998 Grade 9 provincial and achievement tests,
the report showed a 100-per-cent failure rate in Math, Science and Social Studies
and an 87 per cent failure rate for Language Arts at FCHS.
'All the (students) who wrote those tests failed,' said School Works! Inc. project
director Denis Lapierre. '(FCHS) will have to start admitting that there is a problem
with poor teaching.'
However, according to staff at FCHS and representatives of the Foothills School Division,
the reports were completely unsubstantiated.
FCHS principal Mark Butcher explained that the results are completely inaccurate
due to the fact that the Grade 9 students who took the provincial tests are involved
in the Integrated Occupation Program (IOP) at the school, which was established for
students who have special learning needs.
'They (School Works! Inc.) failed to take into consideration that these students
were in IOP,' said Butcher. 'These (27) students are in a special program . . . they're
not even in the (core) curriculum.'
FCHS vice-principal Elaine McDougall shares the same opinion.
'It's disgusting (about the results),' said McDougall. 'Those (Grade 9) students
were two years behind, they don't fit the regular curriculum, that's why they're
in IOP.'
However, Lapierre disagrees.
'The (provincial and achievement) tests are designed to evaluate learning progress,'
said Lapierre. 'The normal levels for children as well as special needs students
have been factored in the tests.'
Butcher contended that having special learning needs students write the same tests
as students in the conventional Grade 9 program is unreasonable and would no doubt
contribute to poor results.
'I would have been very surprised to have seen any of the (IOP) students pass those
tests,' said Butcher. 'We have complained in the past about it -- it's like having
these students sit down in front of a Math 30 exam and write it. What concerns me
is what this does for these students' self-esteem when they can't do these tests.'
The results, which said that the Grade 9 level at FCHS was the second worst in the
province, were reported and printed in the Lethbridge Herald, Calgary Herald and
Alberta Report, which has outraged FCHS staff and the school division.
A representative of superintendent David Lynn's office said that a letter has been
sent to the Alberta Press Council seeking an apology and that IOP students should
be exempt from writing the provincial diploma and achievement tests.
Meanwhile, Butcher maintains that FCHS students are excellent students and continue
to exceed in provincial standards.
'I don't like comparing one school against another school, but we can definitely
hold our own with schools (across the province),' said Butcher. 'Last year, we had
a student get 98.6 per cent on the diploma exams, and we've had students among the
top six in the province.'
'What has been done has been damaging to us,' added Butcher. 'We will seek legal
action.'
School Works! Inc. has a list of the top 200 highest and lowest achieving schools
of 1998 posted on their website at http://www.cadvision.com/aloha.
They can be contacted at 607-8451.
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Local nurses may join others in illegal strike
By Gillian Beckett
Staff Reporter
Nurses within the Headwaters Health Authority may join other nurses across
Alberta in an illegal strike as early as next week.
The United Nurses of Alberta's (UNA) negotiating committee has called that a strike
vote be held on June 14 for the approximately 17,500 nurses who are currently in
contract negotiations.
'Our members have said clearly they cannot keep up with the crisis circumstances
in Alberta's health care system. It's too hard on them and on their patients,' said
UNA president Heather Smith in a press release. 'These negotiations have to make
some real changes. The Alberta government can't keep expecting nurses to run faster,
work much longer hours and cover for the budget shortfalls.'
However, mediations with the provincial government to resolve the matter of a strike
have been forthcoming since May 10.
According to Judith Dyck, spokesperson for Provincial Health Authorities of Alberta,
a new offer, which was put on the table on June 1, would make experienced registered
nurses in Alberta the highest paid in western Canada and second among all other provinces.
Highlights of the deal include:
' experienced full-time nurses working in Alberta hospitals would earn between $51,068-$52,508
a year;
' new graduates working full-time in Alberta hospitals would earn between $42,655-$44,095
a year, which would give Alberta the highest inter-provincial start rate in Canada
and;
' more than 1,100 front line positions which includes 750 nursing positions would
be added by health authorities this year.
'Our current offer is meaningful and realistic,' said Dyck in a press release. 'Registered
nurses are professionals and they deserve a raise. They work hard and health authorities
want to hire more of them to ease workloads and provide quality care to Albertans.'
However, despite the fact that both parties want to reach a fair settlement, Dyck
said that optimism is low.
'The (UNA) is still asking for increases totalling 18 per cent, plus another 2,000
positions for registered nurses alone,' she added. 'We are prepared to continue bargaining,
but our team feels it has gone as far as it can until UNA focuses its demands.'
If the nurses vote to hold an illegal strike, Dyck said that there would be some
serious repercussions, especially for the public.
'This strike would have a very real impact on health services for people,' said Dyck.
'Scheduled surgeries would be cancelled and patients listed as high risk would have
to be airlifted out to other provinces.'
Because the strike is illegal, Dyck added that the health authorities would be going
to the labor board of Alberta to seek a cease-and-desist order, however, she hopes
that it doesn't have to come to that.
'Our hope is not to have the process go through the courts,' said Dyck. 'We hope
that strike action will be averted.'
If the strike does go ahead, nurses from the High River Hospital and the Oilfields
General Hospital in Black Diamond will be involved.
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Top 5 Highest and Lowest
Achieving Schools in Alberta (based on School Works! Inc.)
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Highest Ranked Schools for Grade 9
- St. Mary's School -Sexsmith, Alta.
- Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School -Okotoks, Alta.
- Burdell School -Burdell, Alta.
- Calgary Waldorf School -Calgary, Alta.
- New Horizons School -Sherwood Park, Alta.
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Lowest Ranked Schools for Grade 9
- Kennedale School -Edmonton, Alta.
- Foothills Composite High School -Okotoks
- Alberta School for the Deaf -Edmonton, Alta.
- Gift Lake School -Gift Lake, Alta.
- Trinity Learning Centre -Lethbridge, Alta.
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