Student Jaden Babiuk doesn’t have to worry about a five-school shuffle proposed by St. Albert’s Catholic school board – he’s set to graduate from École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville this year, and will be gone before the shuffle eliminates the school’s high school program.
But his friends won’t, and neither will his brother Ryan, who one month into his high school career has learned he might not graduate from ESSMY due to the proposed Faith in Our Future plan.
So Babiuk had some harsh words for the Greater St. Albert Catholic board when he spoke to them Monday.
“You are not dedicating yourself to any student needs with this project,” he said, paraphrasing one of the core commitments of the board’s mission and values statement.
“We did not elect you so you could shut down our school, which we value as our second home.”
Babiuk was one of about 30 people who were at Monday’s GSACRD board meeting to voice their concerns about the Faith in Our Future proposal. Many wore stickers that read “Protégez ESSMY” or “Save EMP.”
The board tabled the Faith in Our Future proposal Sept. 30 as a way to save money, increase school utilization rates, resolve health and safety concerns, and replace the aging Father Jan Community School.
Implemented as is, it would see Marie Poburan students moved to ESSMY, ESSMY’s high school students sent to St. Albert Catholic High, the St. Gabriel distance learning school and district office moved to the Poburan building, and Father Jan rebuilt at a new site in Riverside by 2024. The district would also close 14 portables at different school sites.
Parent, student criticisms
Greg Schiller, who has three kids attending Poburan, had several criticisms of this proposal, which he said many parents only found out about from their peers.
“Some parents found out from their young children coming home and telling them, ‘Our school is closing.’”
Schiller said merging Poburan and ESSMY would put the combined school at 95 per cent utilization, making it overcrowded. ESSMY would also need a school zone in front of it on Boudreau Road if it were to host elementary students.
“We believe this is something the average St. Albert resident would be extremely opposed to,” he said, and that many drivers would ignore the limit, putting students at risk.
Schiller criticized the board for not offering alternatives to this plan and questioned its proposed savings, which he noted would amount to something like 0.8 per cent of the board’s budget.
Parent Genevieve Gray said this plan would jeopardize a thriving single-track French Immersion program that was already drawing students from across the region.
“Our French Immersion schools should not be carrying the entire burden of this proposal,” she said (four of the five schools affected by Faith in Our Future offer French Immersion).
Grade 10 ESSMY student Kennedy Prodahl asked the board to at least let current ESSMY high-school students graduate before they closed the high-school program. Doing so would give students time to train junior high leaders to carry on the Interact Club and projects associated with the school’s UNESCO designation, both of which would be lost otherwise.
“We want to keep the ESSMY legacy alive,” she said.
In an interview, Prodahl said most Grade 10 students at ESSMY wanted to finish their education there, and that news of this proposal had cast a cloud over school life. If the board canceled the school’s high-school program, she said didn’t think she’d stay in the Catholic district.
“If my voice isn’t heard, and they can’t let me finish, if their budget can’t allow me to finish, then (this district) is not something I support.”
Board response
Schiller said parents wanted to see Faith in Our Future withdrawn and a new proposal with full costing and alternatives tabled that addressed these and other concerns.
Board chair Joe Becigneul said the board is holding online and in-person talks with families about this proposal to see if it has support and to solicit alternatives, and is waiting to see if the plan is supported before doing a detailed cost analysis.
“There is no part of the Faith in Our Future proposal that’s been predetermined or set in stone,” he said, and this is just one possible solution to the many issues the district faces.
“The board is fully committed to listening to community stakeholders.”
An open house on this proposal was set to happen Oct. 30 at St. Albert Catholic High starting at 5 p.m., with five talks for the five affected schools to follow in January. The board will get a report on public comments so far in early November and shall consider tweaks to the proposal then, Becigneul said.
Visit www.gsacrd.ab.ca/administration/faithinourfuture for details on the proposal.
