Two petitions are circulating in Blackfalds to apply pressure on the Wolf Creek Public School Division and the province to build a high school in the booming small town.
John Anderson, a retired teacher and one of the voices behind the petitions, said the community wants to be self-contained and educate their children from kindergarten to Grade 12.
The town has also shown its support for a high school and has written to Alberta Education.
“There is a need,” said Anderson. “We aren’t saying there needs to be a high school tomorrow. We’re saying there needs to be a plan to build a high school and a definite date. There’s a very clear need for a high school in Blackfalds . . . Blackfalds is not a filler for other schools. It wants to be a complete community.”
Every day roughly 220 high school students are bused from Blackfalds to Lacombe Composite High School. Others attend schools in Red Deer.
According to the 2011 census, Blackfalds grew to 6,300, or 34.4 per cent since the last census total of 4,618 in 2006. Blackfalds was ranked as the 14th fastest growing community over the last five years in Canada.
One petition calls for the school division to add a high school to its three-year capital plan.
But Wolf Creek board chairperson Trudy Bratland said an elementary school not a high school is desperately needed because the division’s two schools in Blackfalds are nearing capacity. Bratland said the student projections show the numbers are at the younger levels and a high school would not be viable.
Supt. Larry Jacobs said if Blackfalds students were removed from the Lacombe Composite High School, the utilization rate would drop dramatically and the programming would fall accordingly at the school.
Currently the high school has about 850 students and is not operating at full capacity.
Jacobs said the province would question why they would build another high school in the division in light of the utilization rates.
“The Lacombe Comp is capable of 1,000 plus students,” said Jacobs. “So why would you take and build another high school and reduce the capability of your composite down to the point where it is in danger of functioning well. Then at the same time have a school in Blackfalds which would be one of our smallest high schools.”
Jacobs said a small high school would not be capable of offering the same kind of programming as seen in the recently renovated Lacombe high school or in Red Deer high schools.
In the last few months, there have been discussions between the town and the district about the school infrastructure needs in the community. Jacobs said the district has urged the town to have a serviced site for down the road five to 10 years when another high school might be viable in the jurisdiction and possibly Blackfalds.
The petitions are available at www.highschool4blackfalds.com
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com