REVIEW
www.ecareview.com
East Central Alberta
o Thursday, December 6, 2012
Targeting East Central Alberta
Your favourite source for news and entertainment in East Central Alberta, reaching 83 communities weekly
Volume 101 - No. 49
Bryan Passifiume
ECA Review Reporter
INDEX Clive council .....................................2 Coronation council .........................3 Brownfield 4-H .................................5 Hardisty news ..................................5 Letters ........................................... 6, 7 Obituary .............................................11 Oilfield .........................................12, 14 Prairie Land school .......................12 Sports ................................................13 Classifieds ................................ 15 - 17 Agriculture ...............................18 - 19
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Getting you connected
OPINION: When it’s our turn Page 6
Season’s Greeting photos Pages 7-10
Stettler wireless a go Page 11
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Paying tribute to a family member who lost their battle with cancer can take on a whole new meaning when it serves to help someone else. This was foremost in the minds of two Coronation girls who managed to raise $1200 in memory of their great uncle. The two girls took part in the Canadian Cancer Society’s ‘Cuts for Cancer’ program, which raises donations of money and hair to provide wigs to young cancer patients. Frank Manning, who passed away this summer, was known as an expert rancher and loving family man. It was his memory that motivated the two Coronation School students to get their hair cut on Tuesday, November 27 in the atrium of Coronation
School in front of their entire school. “Your hair will always grow back but some people don’t have the choice,” said 14-year-old Jessica Kuziw, who grew out her hair for several months in anticipation of the event. “It’s a good cause.” Jessica’s younger sister Vanessa went one step further. After local hairstylist Cassie Resch snipped off the 12-year-old’s ponytail to the cheers of her schoolmates, Resch picked up a set of electric clippers and reduced Kuziw’s blonde locks to fine stubble. When asked what it was like to be bald, the young girl’s response was “awesome!” The two girls were able donate about a foot and a half of hair to the program. It takes twelve donations of unbleached, unprocessed one-foot ponytails of hair to create just one wig, which costs $1200 to make.
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Local girls let their hair down for cancer
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Coronation’s Vanessa Kuziw sports a temporary mohawk while getting her head shaved as part of her Cuts for Cancer fundraiser held in memory of her great uncle Frank Manning on Tuesday, November 27. Kuziw was joined by Manning’s wife and family and her sister Jessica who also donated hair to the cause. ECA Review/B. PASSIFIUME
During the regular school board meeting on Wednesday, November 28, Prairie Land School Division trustees were presented with the 2012-2013 fall budget update. Based in part on declining enrollment, the board was forced to cut resource funding and professional development dollars. The cuts, according to Superintendent Wes Neumeier, were made to ensure as much money as possible made it into the classrooms. “We prioritized classrooms over external items,” Neumeier told the Review. “It gave us an opportunity to really identify our priorities.” Cost-cutting measures included cutting the amount of travel required to attend meetings. The board has found cost savings by taking advantage of video conferencing technology to participate in meetings remotely. Despite the cuts, the board is still facing an operating deficit of $255,596 which will be paid out of cash reserves. The latest in a series of deficit budgets, Neumeier says that the time has come to start considering the future. “We’re getting to the point where we have to balance the
budget,” Neumeier said. With the removal of the Rural Stabilization Grant by 2013, the school division will face a loss of $495,000 in government funding in next year’s budget. The board’s strategy in the new year will be seeking a more equitable funding model for Alberta’s rural schools. “We need to advocate for adequate funding,” Neumeier said. “Prairie Land has small schools, they are small by necessity.” According to Neumeier, the issue lies with how the Alberta government distributes money to school boards. The current system bases funding on a per pupil basis, which is designed to distribute provincial education dollars based on enrollment. Small schools, however, don’t receive the money that they require to operate under this formula. With actual enrollments falling behind the spring projections, the school board received about $150,000 less than it expected for this school year. “It’s time for the government to adequately fund rural education,” Neumeier said. Geographically one of the largest school divisions in Alberta, Prairie Land Schools supports nine public schools and nine Hutterite colony schools.
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Bryan Passifiume
ECA Review Reporter
DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE EVENT
Budget woes for school division
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