Sundre High School (SHS) officials cut the school's indoor arena program for the 2013-2014 year, instead opting for the less expensive outdoor ice. School officials are hoping the free outdoor ice rink will suffice.
As part of the arena program in past years, students have played broomball, hockey and general skating activities.
“With reduced levels of funding that are happening, we need to ensure that our money is used as efficiently as possible. And given the fact that we do have other external places that are less expensive for us to participate in, we use those,” said SHS principal Jason Drent.
“The reason we chose the arena is because during that time when the arena is used by our students in physical education, we believe that the free outdoor ice rink might be able to serve our needs for that time.”
This is a test year to see if needs are met by the outdoor rink. Cutting the use of the arena is not a permanent move, he said.
As well, hours of the arena have recently been altered, which would affect the program. Rather than being open from roughly 8 a.m. to midnight during the weekdays, the arena is now open from 2 p.m. to midnight from Monday to Thursday.
“If the arena doesn't open until 2 o'clock, most of our programs, for example phys-ed 10 is offered during block two, which starts at 9:40 a.m.,” he said. “So if we were to choose to come there we wouldn't be able to bring Grade 10 students to the arena to skate.”
River Valley School (RVS) students have used the majority of the time scheduled for the schools at the arena, he said. The town is still receiving $4,000 from RVS for use of the facility.
“For them, having those external services available is more important, of course. Simply because they have twice as many kids and the exact same gym space,” he noted.
He is unsure of how long SHS has been using the arena, but guesses it always has.
Students of SHS will continue to use the curling rink and the Aquaplex through the winter months.
“We really make it a priority to ensure that our kids get exposed to more than just the gymnasium,” he said.
“One of the things that we're very lucky with is the fact that we have so many facilities and activities that are close by.”
He noted that Sundre has one of the best tracks in the division for track and field, students are able to use Snake Hill for cross-country, and the baseball diamonds are an asset as well.
He also noted that Chinook's Edge School Division has supported SHS generously.
“Any time there is a funding change then I always ensure that we look at our books and we say ‘are there more efficient ways to accomplish the task, but still get the positive outcomes for our students',” he said.
“There are limited resources and we're trying to stretch those resources as far as we can.”
