David Thompson High School Modernization Project Update

On December 12, 2017, WRSD Trustees and senior leadership hosted a public meeting at David Thompson High School in order to update the corridor community regarding the David Thompson High School modernization project. At that meeting we reviewed the sewage lagoon issue that was preventing the project from moving forward. We also presented an alternative plan that would result in the closure of DTHS and instead see all of the K-12 students in the corridor area being taught in the Condor and Leslieville schools. One of these schools would become a grade K-6 school while the other a grade 7-12 school. Although there were many questions and some debate as to which community would be better suited for the grade 7-12 school, the WRSD Board of Trustees and Administration sensed the support of the corridor community regarding this new plan. As such, on December 15, 2017 we submitted this plan to Alberta Education. On January 4, 2018 Alberta Education responded to our letter, thanking us for our efforts in exploring possible solutions to mitigate the issues facing the DTHS modernization project in a manner that was mindful of financial reality and the current fiscal environment. On January 22, 2018 Alberta Education further informed us that they will be conducting walkthroughs of both Condor and Leslieville schools in order to further investigate our new plan. These walkthroughs are scheduled to take place on February 1, 2018 and will be followed a few weeks later by a value management session. The value management session will be led by Alberta Education and will include representatives from WRSD Trustees, WRSD Administration, Clearwater County, Alberta Infrastructure as well as staff and parents from each of the 3 corridor schools. The purpose of this value management session will be to determine the best way forward to reduce the number of schools in the corridor from 3 to 2 while ensuring all corridor students from kindergarten to grade 12 are able to attend school in the corridor area. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 403-845-3376.