Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 105 years
VOLUME ONE-HUNDRED EIGHT
PM40011853 R08546
NUMBER TWENTY-THREE
STETTLER, ALBERTA
June 4, 2014
PRICE — $1.09 Plus GST
STACEY LAVALLIEI/Independent reporter
Two firefighters turn the hose on a double-garage fire on May 28. The Stettler Regional Fire Department turned out quickly and put down the fire, but not before it completely gutted both sides of the garage and burned two vehicles.
Flames devour Stettler structure, vehicles Stacey Lavallie Independent reporter In just the few minutes it took Brandon Thompson to go from his father-in-law’s garage to the house, and back to the garage, the few flames licking at the door of the garage across the
alleyway had turned into a raging inferno. The fire, fed by material in the garage as well as a steady wind, devoured the double garage and two vehicles before it was put out by the Stettler Regional Fire Department. The fire department
used both on-ground firefighters and the aerial to spray water on the blazinghot orange and red flames, which billowed out across the alleyway to lick at overhead powerlines. The heat from the fire caused water on neighbouring structures
and the ground to evaporate into steam, and Thompson and his in-laws, Bill and Susan Barnes, watched nervously as their garage steamed. However, the fire department quickly got the blaze under control, saving nearby homes and
Stettler school councils concerned about communication, cost-cutting Robin Tarnowetzki Independent reporter
With the Clearview schools’ budget being released and cost-cutting measures being put in place, the school councils have been growing increasingly impatient with the actions of the board of trustees. The biggest complaint about the board is its communication style. Board chair Ken Checkel has said in the past that all the public information about the school board is kept on the website, which parents can check regularly. However, the councils want more from the board. “I’m sorry, check the website is not good enough,” said Liezil Vogel, chair of the middle school council. “That’s not good enough communication. Communication means we sit around a table and then when a question is asked, it has to be answered with a solid answer.” School councils of the elementary and high schools are understood be in a similar line of thinking as the position laid out by
Vogel. The board consults with parents by sending trustees to the council meetings, posting public information on the website, and hosting joint meetings between the boards and the school councils. So far this year, two such events happened, one in February and one in May. In its April 24 meeting, the board of trustees looked at a table that listed different developmental phases of the proposed budget, as well as who was consulted. It turned out that staff, parents, school councils and the public were only consulted for three out of six phases. “That, to me, is concerning,” Vogel said. “Black and white, this shows you that they’re not speaking to parents, they are not hearing from parents.” Checkel says that parents may feel like they’re being ignored since there are often too many ideas and the board can’t implement them all. “People throw their ideas at us, and they’re not one of the ones we incorporate and they wonder if they’re even being heard,” Checkel
said. “We hear them all, but we can’t do them all.” The school councils are also concerned about transparency within the school board. Though all information about the board meetings and financial information can be found online, on May 8, an item called “communication and key messages” was discussed in the in camera portion of the meeting. “In camera meetings are unacceptable to me, unless it’s a personal matter or something to do with what people’s salaries are, legal stuff,” Vogel said. “In camera meetings just tell me that they’re hiding something.” Checkel said that all information that the public has a right to know can be found online, and that the board is not hiding anything. “All the information we consider is also available to the public unless it is covered by privacy legislation and regulations,” he said. “And we certainly do listen to any and all ideas coming to us from the public.” The main point of contention is proposed cuts
More Independent . . . more often . . .
to staffing in the Stettler schools. The councils want the school board to look at other ways of saving money, such as not hiring a consultant to find a new superintendent or not having catered lunches anymore. However, Checkel contends that most feasible way to save funds for the division is to cut staffing, since 75% of the budget goes toward staff. “We’re faced with some big trends; they’re kind of working against us, especially declining enrollments,” he said. While the number of staff members is decreasing, the student to staff ratio is remaining fairly constant. And since Stettler has the largest student population, cuts there look more significant than if the smaller schools have budget cuts. However, the school councils want the board to get creative in saving money. “All in all, the board needs to look at making hard decisions,” Vogel said. “They need to look at all avenues of saving money and getting more money. Because that’s the only way we’re going to fund our schools.”
structures, though not fast enough to save the garage or the two trucks, which were burned through by the fire. According to Amanda Spensley with the fire department, no one was injured in the blaze, which took about two hours to put
out completely. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. It’s not something the neighbours are going to forget, though. “It was amazing how fast it happened,” Thompson said. “I haven’t seen anything like that.”
Former Stettler resident makes a splash at hall of fame induction Robin Tarnowetzki Independent reporter Alberta Olympian and former Stettlerite Susan Sloan Kelsey says that she is “honoured” to be recognized by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, May 30 for her contributions to swimming. “It was a real honour and I was humbled to be included in such a great group of athletes, builders and coaches,” Sloan Kelsey said. “It was really fun to be there with my family and some friends from Stettler.” The ceremony took place in Red Deer and while Sloan Kelsey said she was a bit hoarse, she prepared a speech and said it was wonderful to be honoured that way. Sloan Kelsey’s successful swimming career began in Stettler, when her father – the mayor at the time – was instrumental in getting a swimming pool built in town in 1967. She said that everyone joined the swim team, so that’s what she did. And she continued to swim in Stettler until she moved away to Vancouver at age 17 to train for the Olympics. “It was great, early on, being from a small town,” she said. “But later on in my
career I needed the support of teammates, and that’s why I moved to Vancouver to have a bigger city.” At the Olympic trials in 1976, she came first in the 100 metre butterfly and set a record for the Canadian Commonwealth Games. She ended up winning bronze with the relay team. That bronze medal was Canada’s first while hosting the Olympics. “It was very exciting and I was so happy that my mom and dad could come to Montreal and be in the stands, so I was excited to share it with them,” she said. continued on page A7
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and at stettlerindependent.com