A faith-based school is hoping to move to the Okotoks area and be under the umbrella of the Foothills School Division.
Foothills trustees directed superintendent of schools John Bailey at its Jan. 13 meeting in High River to work with parents of the Brant Christian School to establish and operate a program that would fall under the jurisdiction of the school division.
“They (the Brant Christian School Society) contacted us and wanted the division to know they were interested in moving the school to this area,” Bailey said. “I met with representatives on Monday (Jan. 11) and they are very keen to have a school here.”
At present, there are approximately 120 students at the K-Grade 12 Brant Christian School, located approximately 15km east of Blackie. The society is interested in establishing a school somewhere between High River and Okotoks.
Gerald Dijkstra, chairman of the Brant Christian School Society, estimates more than 85 per cent of the students come from the Okotoks-High River area.
“We talked about moving the school closer to High River-Okotoks because we knew we could increase the student population just logistically,” Dijkstra said. “We made the motion to start to look for land two AGMs ago.”
He said the next step is to find land in a suitable location for a 200-300 student school, hopefully to open within the next five years. The society plans to pay for the land and the building of the school.
Early in 2015, Brant Christian School had expressed interest in placing a school near the Crescent Point Field House at Aldersyde, to take advantage of its extensive athletic facilities.
That interest was shown prior to the Foothills School Division's announcement in March for a proposed high school near the field house. The division has since dropped the Aldersyde option, making a site near the field house a prime location for Brant Christian.
"I think that would be great," Dijkstra said. "I think the field house isn't being used much during the day and it could save us building a gym."
The field house has already proved beneficial to the school. Brant had its first senior boys volleyball team in 2015-16 and many of its practices were at the field house. All seven players -- representing the entire male high school student body -- came from the Okotoks-High River area.
Dijkstra stressed it is the early stages of attempting to bring a school to Okotoks-High River.
"These are all really preliminary discussions. In order to get the ball moving, we have to decide which division we are going to be in," he said.
That ball took a major roll with Foothills trustees directing Bailey to work with the society.
“John Bailey told us, 'if there is going to be a new school in our jurisdiction I would like to have it under our school board,'” Dijkstra said.
Brant Christian School was established in 1990 as a campus of the Heritage Christian School board in Calgary. In 1993, Brant became an independent school operated by the Brant Christian School Society. It came under the umbrella of the Palliser School Division in 2005 as an alternative school.
Dijkstra said Palliser and Brant Christian School have had an "exceptional working relationship… However provincial policy states that we must operate under the jurisdiction of the geographical school division we are in to receive funding."
If Foothills would have refused Brant's request, the school society would have been allowed to receive funding from an outside school division, according to Dijkstra.
MD of Foothills Mayor Larry Spilak said he would have to see an application before commenting on the potential move to the Okotoks area. However, he said the municipality would be willing to work with the Brant society as it would any school.
An alternative school emphasizes a particular language, culture, religion or subject-matter, or uses a particular teaching philosophy.
For more information see alternative school act, Section 21.
