The Clearview Public Schools board of trustees held their first meeting of the 2022/2023 school year on Aug. 24.
First on the agenda for the board was the annual organizational meeting. During the meeting, the board acclaimed Guy Neitz as chair and Kim Smyth was re-elected as vice-chair.
The board’s memberships were also reviewed during the meeting, which found trustees Erika Grice and Becky Scott remaining as members of the Teacher-Board Liaison Committee. The rest of the board appointments can be found on the Clearview Public Schools website.
Minister LaGrange
The Clearview Public Schools board of trustees has been invited to meet with Education Minister Adriana LaGrange at a meeting in Red Deer on Sept. 12, 2022.
At the meeting the board is being allowed to advocate on two topics.
One topic the board has decided to present on includes “the challenge of keeping small schools open, which includes addressing the cost of transportation and keeping ride times reasonable … modernizing school facilities within current budgets and the impact of school choice on rural communities.”
A second topic is working towards keeping high level Career and Technologies programming available to students in spite of the challenges of increasing cost.
Fuel contingency
Clearview Public Schools has received $104,000 of fuel contingency money from the province to cover costs fro March to June of this year.
The board advocated for the province restarting the program during the 2021/2022 school year and is grateful that they moved on the recommendation.
Fuel contingency funds are in place as long as fuel prices remain high to help offset fuel costs used transporting kids to and from school.
Dual credit programming
Clearview Public Schools was notified in July that $50,000 was being offered by Olds College so that the division can offer agricultural or trades programming for students.
The programming will be offered through Olds College and the board is thankful for a strong connection to the school.
Gus Wetter School portable
After having received, and used, the funding to place a portable classroom at Gus Wetter School, Clearview approached the province to allow for capital funds to be used to build a connection from the classroom to the main building.
According to the board meeting highlights, the province does not typically provide funding for a connection between portables and schools.
In the case of Gus Wetter’s portable, the board, after consultation with the community, feels that having it connected is the safest way to go.
Clearview heard from the province during the summer, giving them permission to go ahead with the project.
The total anticipated cost is in between $160,000 and $200,000.