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Future of École St. Thomas d’Aquin discussed at public meeting

Jan 8, 2018 | 9:48 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Parents of students attending École St. Thomas d’Aquin packed inside a gymnasium on Monday night to discuss the future of the school.

A public meeting was held by the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education regarding the potential closure of the school and the transfer of close to 100 students.

On December 12, the school board voted to consider the closure of St. Thomas and re-locate students to St. John Paul II School, which is slated to open in time for the 2018-19 school year.

The decision was made in part due to millions of dollars needed to refurbish the school and little growth in terms of student population at the French immersion school.

Board Chair Dick Mastel said it’s disappointing to see the French immersion program hasn’t picked up steam like they hoped.

“The single-track that has been here for the last seven or eight years, which we hoped would grow the program really hasn’t,” said Mastel. “Now, that’s not to say anything negative about the program, the program here is wonderful. The results are excellent, but the program hasn’t grown like we thought it would.”

Most of those in attendance on Monday night seemed to be in favour of the move, which would lower the school division’s deficit from $505,000 to $295,000 compared to keeping St. Thomas open.

The issue many parents took exception with were letters sent out just before the Christmas break notifying parents of the motion, with some saying it added stress and anxiety before the holiday season.

Justine Mann’s daughter attends Grade 3 at St. Thomas and said communication between parents and the division could have been handled better, but is optimistic about the program’s future.

“I think it could have been approached differently,” said Mann. “But, now we’re here and now it’s now, and so I think like was said tonight, that we all need to work together to turn this into a successful program.”

The school division reiterated numerous times throughout the evening that a decision had not been made, with Superintendent of Schools Joe Colistro saying if it’s not a positive move, it shouldn’t happen.

“I think that it has to be right for everybody and that’s why we’re here,” said Colistro. “If the process isn’t complete by the end of the month, then it should continue until the board has enough information to make an informed decision.”

The public is invited to attend the division’s regular board meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 pm, as the topic of St. Thomas will be brought up again.

A decision regarding the school’s closure won’t be made until January 30 at the earliest, but Mastel added it likely will take longer than that.