A decision about whether or not the Lord’s Prayer will be recited in Sturgeon Heights School is still on hold despite a presentation by approximately a dozen parents at last week’s Sturgeon School Division meeting.
“We had an excellent meeting with a number of parents who spoke on both sides of the question and the board made the decision to prepare a draft policy for further discussion,” said division superintendent, Dr. Michelle Dick.
It will be an overarching policy that will be applicable for all Sturgeon district schools, not just Sturgeon Heights.
The suggested draft outlines a procedure that school principals will follow in the future, if parents wish their children to recite a morning prayer.
“We are proposing that the school principal will survey the school community to see if the majority wish to say the Lord’s Prayer,” Dick said.
At that point the survey results will be considered by the school board, which will then make a decision based on the numbers.
Provisions must be made for both groups of students, those whose parents wish them to take part in the morning ritual and those who do not.
Dick said the policy must include dignified, respectful and appropriate alternatives.
The policy is very much at the draft stage and must be put forward to the board for approval. The trustees must approve the wording before a final decision is made.
For now, students at Sturgeon Heights School are not reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
Students attending grades 1 through 4 at Morinville Public Elementary School have already outgrown their classroom.
Teachers and parents spent the weekend moving desks, books and whiteboards from the school’s first facility in the Morinville Cultural Centre, to the new digs in the Sturgeon Division’s central office.
“We had a few more children in the classes and the Grade 1 classroom in particular was very snug, so the board trustees made the decision to move,” said Dick.
There are currently 26 students in the Grade 1 to 4 programs, which break down into 12 students in the split Grade 1-2 classroom and 14 in the Grade 3-4 classroom. There is more space for the students in the school division boardroom than there was in the cultural centre, and that allows teachers more flexibility if they want to divide their students into different learning groups.
Gym classes will take place in the big field behind the school board offices, where there is a playground and in the nearby arena, Dick said.
Two new modular classrooms will be in place after the December break.
“On Friday, Alberta Education assured us that the two new modulars will be available on time and in place next to Georges P. Vanier School. Next fall, we are requesting additional modulars to accommodate the students as they move into Grade 5 and for office space,” Dick said.
For now, the division school board meetings will be held at Sturgeon Composite High School.
