Local superintendants aren't sure where Morinville's new public school will go, but say it could make a lot of parents switch districts when it opens its doors.
Tabled in the legislature last week, Bill 4 proposes to make the Sturgeon School Division the public board in Morinville and Legal. Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools is currently the public board in those areas, and runs almost all but two of their schools. The change, should it happen, would kick in this September.
Sturgeon doesn't have a permanent school in these regions, says public school superintendant MichÈle Dick, and will need one if this change is to work.
"We need to be assured that we have proper space, proper programs and proper services in place for the students this coming September."
But where that school will go is an open question. Morinville has one undeveloped school site that could be given to Sturgeon, says Alberta Education spokesperson Janice Schroeder, but the province couldn't build a school there by September.
Sturgeon school students might end up sharing a school with ones from St. Albert Catholic, Schroeder says, or set up shop in an open facility.
"The minister's criteria were 'appropriate educational spaces,'" she says.
Alberta Education will meet with St. Albert Catholic officials this week to figure out where to put the new school, says Catholic school superintendant David Keohane.
"Our schools are quite full at the moment," he says, and he's not sure which, if any, could be split with Sturgeon.
Any split would also require some sort of physical barrier between the two schools, he added, such as a library or door.
"How can you run a single facility with Catholic permeation and have a secular program in it?"
Student shuffle
There are about 1,700 students in Morinville, Dick notes, and a fair chunk of them could switch from St. Albert Catholic to the secular Sturgeon School Division if this bill passes.
"The parents in Morinville have been clear that they want to see what the school facilities will be like before they make a decision."
While there are potentially many non-Catholic students attending St. Albert Catholic schools in Morinville, none of the region's boards know their exact number.
Alberta Education did a religious census last year of Morinville, St. Albert, Legal and parts of Sturgeon County as part of this secular-school debate, Schroeder notes, but has yet to release the results. The survey also had a response rate of less than 20 per cent. Based on the 2001 federal census, the region appears to be 43 per cent Protestant and 37 per cent Roman Catholic.
Keohane and Dick say their districts will work together to find a place for the new school.
"A plan needs to be put in place," Keohane says.
Dick says she hopes to have the matter resolved by mid-March.
No matter what happens, says Catholic board chair Lauri-Ann Turnbull, St. Albert Catholic schools will continue to be open to students of all religions.
"Nothing is changing in our schools."
What about Legal?
Board and provincial officials say they're not sure how Bill 4 will affect Legal residents if it passes. <br />Legal currently has two schools: the public Legal school, run by St. Albert Catholic with 186 students; and the francophone école Citadelle, run by the Greater North-Central Francophone School Board with about 130 students. <br />Bill 4 would make the Sturgeon School Division the public board in Legal. As is the case with Morinville, Sturgeon does not have any schools there. <br />Alberta Education hasn't given much thought to this issue, says spokesperson Janice Schroeder. "My sense is that for now the focus is on Morinville."<br />The province hasn't talked much about where Legal students would go if they wanted to join Sturgeon, says superintendant MichÈle Dick, but she suspects they would be bused to Bon Accord.
