The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
School board members vote 4-2 in historic decision The face of education on both sides of the border changed last night when the Creighton School Board voted to establish a high school program at Creighton Community School. In a landmark 4-2 decision, the trustees opted to establish a homegrown high school program for the more than 100 high school students in Creighton and Denare Beach. "It came down to what is best for Creighton Community School," said Terry Brown, board chairman. "I am very confident we will offer a great high school education for our kids. We will have the funding to provide them with whatever we need." Opposing the motion were trustees Tracy Andrusiak, who said she felt the timing was wrong, and Ray Biberdorf, who said he opposed the concept entirely. Trustee Bernadette Hillier's motion to establish the high school was seconded by Trustee Janet Clark. Also in favour were Chairman Brown and Trustee Heather Jacobson. About 30 Creighton and Denare Beach residents packed a multi-purpose room at Creighton school for the highly-anticipated meeting. Part way through the meeting, the trustees left the room for 40 minutes to privately deliberate before returning to cast their votes shortly after 9 p.m. Creighton Community School, which currently does not offer programming beyond grade 9, will begin offering grade 10 in September 2004, with grades 11 and 12 to follow in September of 2005 and 2006 respectively. Brown said last night that the board's decision had nothing to do with concerns some Creighton area residents have with the high school system in Flin Flon. For him, a key reason to support the initiative related to finances. "By 2007, Creighton school, if we were to stay as we are, would have almost $450,000 less in grants," said Brown. "That would have a devastating effect on our system. This will offset that. Instead of having $450,000 less in grants, we could be looking at $160,000 on the positive side." See 'We' P.6 Con't from P.1 "Things were to a point here that we had to be very concerned about this school and what we can do to save it," said Brown. "I don't want, four or five years from now, to start gutting the system because of lack of funding." The chairman said the high school program will also prevent teacher layoffs and allow the school's aboriginal students to receive their secondary education in a familiar atmosphere. Last night's vote was eagerly welcomed by some of Creighton area people but vehemently opposed by others. "I'm pretty pleased," said one parent, who asked that her name not be published. "I'm hoping that because it's going to be a smaller school, we will see less of the problems that bigger high schools have. I find that the teachers at Creighton school are more caring because of their smaller student load." Others like Larry Fancy, a former trustee on the Creighton board, were surprised and dismayed. Fancy felt that the overwhelming opinion at public forums on the issue, held last week with the trustees on hand, was to delay the decision for one year. "I thought that the Creighton School Board was agreeing to listen to the public and make their decision accordingly," he said. "Obviously, they didn't hear what I heard. I heard that the public didn't want this to go ahead at this time." But Brown said there is a "silent majority" of Creighton School Division ratepayers who support the high school. He said a number of supporters have told him that they felt too intimidated by opponents to publicly voice their opinions. The board's decision promises to have significant consequences for the Flin Flon School Division. In an interview in October, Flin Flon Superintendent Blaine Veitch said the loss of the Saskatchewan students Ñ who represent about $900,000 in funding Ñ would cause a 20-25 per cent reduction of programs and staff at the high school level. The Creighton School Division currently pays the Flin Flon School Division roughly $7,000 for every Creighton and Denare Beach student attending school on the Manitoba side. About 130 Saskatchewan students currently attend high school in Flin Flon at Hapnot Collegiate (about 90 students) and Many Faces Education Centre (about 40). A 47-page report released in October by a task force assembled by the Creighton School Board concluded that it is feasible to add the high school grades to the school. The board says it will offer a pallet of nearly 80 classroom courses, including high-level offerings like chemistry, calculus and biology, even if enrollments are small. "I would not have voted in favour of this if I thought there was even a shadow of a doubt that we couldn't do this," said Brown. "I know we can do this." The chairman dismissed the idea that the new high school will drive a social wedge between the youth of Creighton and Flin Flon. "I really think that with all of the activities that go on in these communities, the social life will continue," he said. "It's just that now instead of two high schools, there's three." The board's next step, Brown said, will be to hire two or three more teachers for the fall to accommodate the added students.
