The fate of Grassland School's high school program will be on the table at Aspen View Public Schools' April 18 board meeting.
At the school board meeting April 4, Aspen View superintendent Neil O'Shea said he will put together a report and return to the board at the April 18 meeting with a recommendation on how to proceed with the school.
The discussion comes after a pilot project for the 2018-19 year saw Grade 11-12 students from Grassland attend school in Boyle. There was a stakeholder meeting at Grassland School March 13, and O'Shea presented a report on the meeting to Aspen View trustees April 4.
"I thought it was a very successful meeting," O'Shea said, also noting about 80 people attended. "The information we presented at the meeting included the surveys of what we asked students, as well as what we asked parents."
According to those surveys, 58 per cent of student respondents felt that attending Boyle School was better for their education, while 64 per cent of parents felt their children benefited academically by attending Boyle. As well, about two-thirds of students said they made more friends in Boyle, while 64 per cent of parents felt their children benefited socially in Boyle.
When parents compared the merits of attending Boyle School versus Grassland School, 66 percent of parents said that attending Boyle School was a positive experience for their child, and 36 per cent said they would have preferred their child stay in Grassland.
O'Shea said attendees at the March 13 meeting were asked what was most important to them at Grassland School, what learning opportunities are most important to them for students in senior high grades, and what are the most important factors Aspen View should consider in making decisions about high school students in the Grassland area.
O'Shea added he is still receiving email feedback, with the most recent coming in April 3.
"What we did at the beginning of the March 13 meeting was distribute my business card to people and told them to contact me if they had any further input after the meeting," he said. "It was a respectful meeting. There was lots of dialogue among the 80 people who were there. (There) was good representation of people with younger children in the school looking to their future, as well as some current students from both Grassland and Boyle Schools."
