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Education minister meets with Blackie parents

Blackie School parents told Alberta’s education minister last week they want children at rural schools get the same opportunities as their urban counterparts.
Alberta Education minister David Eggen speaks to the Blackie School parent council on Sept. 9.
Alberta Education minister David Eggen speaks to the Blackie School parent council on Sept. 9.

Blackie School parents told Alberta’s education minister last week they want children at rural schools get the same opportunities as their urban counterparts.

The school’s parent council asked minister David Eggan to ensure the continued viability of the hamlet’s small school during a meeting in the school’s library on Sept. 14.

“We’d like you to do everything you can to ensure our kids get every opportunity,” said Scott Sherman, parent council chairman.

Sherman invited Eggen, who is the MLA for Edmonton-Calder, during an Alberta School Council Association meeting in the spring.

He said he wanted the minister to hear some of the concerns rural schools deal with.

“I put him on the spot to attend one of our meetings and, you know, he said he would,” he said.

Sherman said rural schools are vital to their communities and provide unique learning opportunities for their students.

Sherman noted enrollment in Blackie had dropped as low as 97 in 2011, but it has rebounded.

“Depending on how you do the math, we’re at 144 today,” he said. “If you base it counting the pre-kindergartens and counting the kindergartens as half we’re at 123. We wanted to show that just because numbers drop, they are coming back in some areas.”

Sherman said the number one concern the council would like the minister to address is providing equitable casino funding for rural parent council groups.

“Everything being equal they (urban councils) receive four times the funding than we do,’ he said. “The reason for that is they get more frequent casino funding and their casino funding, when they do get a casino, is about double.”

Sherman said casino funding supports many activities at the school and the need at rural schools is equal or greater than their urban counterparts, particularly when it comes to transportation costs because of longer travel distances.

He also asked the minister to ensure adequate transportation to keep travel times to and from school for rural students to a minimum.

Eggen committed to look into their concerns about casino funds and meet with provincial officials to see what changes could possibly be made.

“I will definitely check that out,” he said. “Obviously that is a big source for field trips and other things.”

Eggen said rural schools require an extra investment, but the provincial government recognizes the important place rural schools have in their communities.

“Obviously here in Blackie the school is the hub, pivot point, not just for education but for community activities, and we want to keep it that way,” he said.

Eggen told parents coming changes to provincial curriculum could reflect the importance of the agriculture sector and rural communities in Alberta.

He said consultations will start in the next four weeks and parents will get the opportunity to see the changes and the Province will work with school boards and councils.

Blackie School Principal Fred Woods said he is glad the minister took note of the casino issue. He said it’s a large problem for rural schools that needs to be addressed.

Woods said they do everything they can at Blackie School to ensure students get a broad educational experience. This sometimes has a cost, he said, and funds raised by the parent council make a big difference.

“We do everything we can to offer the same opportunities, to do that it costs a little bit more and we rely on or school council,” he said.

Ultimately, Woods said he hopes the minister gained an understanding of the importance of rural schools.

“They a play a crucial role, we don’t want to put kids on buses for 90 minutes to get them into urban centres,” he said.

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