Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 106 years
VOLUME ONE-HUNDRED SEVEN
PM40011853 R08546
NUMBER TWENTY-TWO
STETTLER, ALBERTA
May 29, 2013
PRICE — $1.09 Plus GST
William E. Hay grads ‘Hold on to the Memories’ RICHARD FROESE Independent reporter With 118 names on the class list, graduates from William E. Hay Composite High School in Stettler were honoured and encouraged to “Hold on to the Memories” during ceremonies Saturday night at the Stettler Recreation Centre. “Take your memories and take them wherever you go,” principal Norbert Baharally said. “Cherish the good memories — and always learn from your memories.” He encouraged graduates to strive for their potential and appreciate all who have helped along the way. “All things are possible for those who believe,” Baharally said. A special musical tribute was performed by three graduates, Tara Kruk, Janea Kopp and Sherri Langford, who sang “I Hope You Dance.” Ceanna McArthur, Maddie Hall and Mark Forrester presented a humorous history of growing up through the grades, from kindergarten to Grade 12. For supporting their children in the class of 2013, Ally Dittrick thanked the parents on behalf of her colleagues. “Thank you for raising us into who we are today,” Dittrick said. “You taught us to crack open a book and study and remind us to plod on.” To return that thanks, Dave and Patty Dittrick gave the parents’ reply.
RICHARD FROESE/Independent reporter
Tara Kruk (left), Janea Kopp and Sherri Langford perform a musical selection during their William E. Hay Composite High School graduation ceremonies Saturday night at the Stettler Recreation Centre. See the special graduation section in today’s edition of the Independent. Patty Dittrick, a Clearview School Division trustee, briefly choked with emotion as she began the speech with her husband. “We appreciate what
you have accomplished and we have tried to give our support.” They urged the graduates to think big. “Endure all the opportunities — experience the
thrill of success.” Class valedictorian Jeff Martin shared the final word with a brief address in the compact 90-minute ceremony. A full account of the
ceremony, with speeches and photos, is contained in the special graduation section in today’s paper. Keeping with tradition, and with the rink decked out like a ballroom, the
ceremonies culminated as graduates performed the grand march. This year, they marched to music composed by Cameron Ambrose, a William E. Hay graduate in 1988.
Clearview passes school budget, considers paring administration LES STULBERG Independent reporter After months of discussion, the Clearview School Division narrowly passed its 2013-14 budget in a 4-3 vote last Thursday. Trustees Ken Checkel, Cheri Neitz, Karen Holloway and Rhonda Maginn voted in favour of the motion, while trustees Yvette Cassidy, Patty Dittrick and Peter Simons were opposed. The 2013-14 budget is projected to spend $32.8 million. With revenue expected to be $32.3 million, a $500,000 shortfall is anticipated — half the amount of the 2012-13 deficit. At the board meeting the week before, trustees changed their stand on schools maintaining five per cent of their budgets in reserves. That move was to enable more teachers to be retained, the trustees said. Combined with alterations on how programs were charged at the Stettler complex, it’s expected to result in less teacher reductions than originally feared. Now the certified teacher reduction is poised to be 4.05 teachers, with the elementary reduction .4, middle school .95 and high school 2.7. William E. Hay Composite High School principal
Norbert Baharally made it clear at the community consultation meetings that he had intentionally overstaffed by two teachers to spend down reserves and initiate the flexibility pilotproject. Dittrick spoke against the budget. “I remain concerned, when we look at the five per cent reserve target,” Dittrick said. “There are six schools significantly below that. “Sure, we are putting the pain off for one more year, but that doesn’t put us in a good place.” Dittrick said she was also concerned about the “huge diverse number of the per student allocation from one school to another school.” Cassidy was also opposed to the budget. She said the changes made to the budget will not address the deficit at Coronation School. “When reserves run out, you have to live within your means,” Cassidy said. She said Byemoor and Donalda schools get more “small school by necessity” money than they generate and build reserves with it. “I have a huge issue with that. It’s not sustainable. We could have done more this year to make the budget sustainable.” Holloway spoke in support of the budget. “This budget is going to work on behalf of the students to provide excellent programs for all students across the division,” she said. “It does the things we asked for last week.”
Pilot project proposed In an effort to find efficiencies in balancing future budgets, an amalgamation of administrative duties for the Stettler schools has been suggested at the community consultation meetings this spring and winter. Stettler principals were allotted time on the agenda to attend Thursday’s meeting to discuss the idea, but none were present. The board moved in camera for a lengthy discussion on the proposed project. Afterward, Clearview trustees voted unanimously in favour of a motion to analyze and consider a pilot project that would look at amalgamating, in whole or in part, all of Clearview’s Stettler schools. The two-part motion would first consider potential benefits and implications and would require permission from Alberta Education. Superintendent John Bailey said the project might fall under the closure of schools regulation. If approval were granted and the analysis proved favourable, the second part of the motion would establish the pilot for the 2013-14 school year, with the following configurations: prekindergarten to grade six, grades seven to 12 and an Outreach component. During the pilot project, the Outreach location and administration are expected to remain the same. The trustees said that the development of such a pilot project would include public consultation.
JOHN MacNEIL/Independent editor
STUDENTS PASS TEST — Jacques du Toit hands the baton to Stettler teammate Braeden York during a winning performance in the intermediate boys’ 4x100-metre relay at the area high school track and field championships last Wednesday on the William E. Hay Composite High School track. The Central Alberta zone meet is set for today on the same Stettler track. For more coverage and photos, see Page B1.
Readers can also find the Stettler Independent at stettlerindependent.com