The review has commenced
Periodically, Black Gold School Division’s Administration conducts a review of programming to ensure equitability and sustainability in delivering quality education to all Black Gold students.
Last year, the Board of Trustees of Black Gold School Division set aside resources to begin a review of schools in the western part of the Division, including Calmar Elementary School, Calmar Secondary School, New Humble Centre School, Thorsby Elementary School, Thorsby Junior/Senior High School and Warburg School. This is commonly referred to as the West End Schools Programming Review.
The primary focus of this year’s review is on elementary programming in the area. Following this, secondary programming will be examined in the 2020–2021 school year.
Where is Black Gold in the process?
To date, quantitative data has been compiled and presented to the Board of Trustees of Black Gold School Division at its Board Fall Planning Sessions on November 14-15, 2019 and at the November Regular Board Meeting. This data will continue to be reviewed over the course of the next few weeks. The data presented included:
- population trends
- utilization rates
- class size and composition
- accountability pillar results
- results of standardized provincial testing
- deferred infrastructure costs (as projected by Alberta Infrastructure)
- human resources added (costs per student).
To ensure transparency, all of the information is available here: West-End-Schools-Programming-Review-Update-V4.
Why is this happening and what could it mean?
The goal of the West End Schools Programming Review is to ensure equitable, sustainable, quality education is being provided to all Black Gold’s students.
Preliminary recommendations will be brought to the Board of Trustees by January 2020. These could include recommendations to reallocate resources, change grade configurations, amend or consolidate school attendance boundaries, relocate programs or close schools entirely.
Are other school communities/areas being reviewed?
Following this, secondary programming will be examined in the West End in the 2020 – 2021 school year.
Succeeding the West End, a programming review will continue in the Division’s other geographical regions ensuring quality education is being delivered across the Division.
Do the school communities get to provide any input?
The Board of Trustees of Black Gold School Division will be engaging our valued partner in education, parents/guardians, staff/teachers and other members of the community to help define the future education framework in its West End schools. Please stay tuned regarding future announcements about opportunities for participation in the new year.
The Division’s promise
Black Gold School Division will continue to be guided by its core values of: student–focused learning; relationships; supportive environment; passion; and managing resources responsibly while providing the best public education possible for all of our students now and well into the future.
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