The proposed new rural school board caucus, including the Chinook's Edge School Division (CESD) board, would hopefully prove useful in bringing concerns and issues to the attention of government officials and other stakeholders, says CESD superintendent Kurt Sacher.
Those issues include the need for more rural school bus transportation funding, he said.
“Our board is very interested in joining in with the concept,” said Sacher. “Previously there was a group of a little over 20 boards that got together around rural transportation issues, just feeling essentially that it is underfunded for the needs.
“That has expanded to where they (trustees) feel that rural boards need more voice relative to a number of issues such as education programming and transportation.”
During the board's monthly meeting last week, trustees instructed administration to write a letter to Buffalo Trails Public Schools indicating an interest in joining the caucus.
“From a provincial perspective, at times there is an assumption that what happens in large and even smaller urban centres is the same as happens in a large rural jurisdiction that is spread out over quite a large geographic area, with communities that vary dramatically,” he said.
“There are some really distinct differences in a rural school division that you don't see in an urban centre. They (trustees) want to have a clear voice to speak to the rural issues.
“I think it depends on the particular topic as to how they advocate, whether they advocate to their own organization with the ASBA (Alberta School Boards Association) or whether they advocate directly to the minister. That group would have to decide.”
The member boards of the caucus would be consulted before the government is advocated on specific issues or concerns, he said.
“Typically, they want to go back and forth from a representative to the board so that they know that they are really relaying what people feel,” he said.
In a press release issued following the Dec. 14 board meeting, trustees said: “While rural transportation continues to be a key area of concern, it is expected the mandate of the proposed organization would be broadened to include a variety of other challenges faced by rural school boards.”
The new caucus could start meetings early in the new year, with communication with the government to follow, he said, noting the division would pick up incidental costs of belonging to the caucus, such as travel for the board's representative.
Trustee Sheldon Ball will represent CESD on the new caucus.
"Our board is very interested in joining in with the concept."Kurt SacherCESD superintendent
