National Sport School parents ask CBE to close program, help transition to different school district
Parents hope that by moving to Palliser Regional Schools the program could continue to operate out of WinSport
Families with the National Sports School (NSS) expressed a strong desire for the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) to move ahead with the proposed closure of the school during a virtual meeting on Wednesday evening, in order to allow it to move forward at the WinSport campus under the jurisdiction of the Palliser Regional School division.
Parents told CBE trustees and administration that the WinSport campus and facilities — which include ice rinks, gymnasiums, a ski hill and much more — are invaluable to the program.
The CBE had proposed to move NSS students to their designated schools or nearby Bowness High School, and accommodating them by allowing modified scheduling and education that includes the ability to go between the Bowness campus and WinSport.
However, at the meeting, parents said the proposal would fail to met the needs of the students.
"I don't think that the transfer is a viable solution for my son. The bussing alone … is in fact a one-minute bus ride, and then a 30-minute, walk along busy highways," said Lindsay Fair, mother of a Grade 11 student.
"If he has to go to a physiotherapy appointment, to meet with his sports therapist or for a workout three times a day, I'm not sure when he would fit in his school time between all those walks. It's not a viable option because it's missing those integrated services that are actually needed to teach athletes."
Following the meeting, Lorèn Lailey-Irvine, mother of a Grade 9 hockey player at NSS, said she's confident that if productive conversations continue with the CBE, a solution that everyone is happy with can be found.
"We should be able to find a solution that does not make this another challenging school closure for the CBE publicly to manage," she said.
"It becomes more of a productive, innovative new partnership that they've demonstrated they're capable of in the past. That's why NSS was created — it was a innovative new partnership with with WinSport Canada. And so we're hoping that they're open to continuing that kind of thinking."
The CBE said while the decision to take on the NSS program would fall to the school board in question, administration has met with officials from Palliser.
"We've already shared with them all of our financial figures, and how we structured the school, to allow them to make a decision in terms of whether or not they feel that they can make a business case to operate the school," said CBE superintendent of facilities, Danny Breton.
"We're not competitors, and so we'll be more than happy to work collaboratively with them, including handing over the name of the school to allow them to do what they need to do."
Palliser says it continues to be in communication with the NSS and CBE administration.
"We are exploring future options for the NSS with the CBE administration and respect the process the CBE will be working through," said Joanne Siljak, the corporate services coordinator for Palliser.
"We are not in a position to provide further comments until the CBE has completed their input process for the purpose of closing NSS."
Creative opportunities sought, CBE says
Despite the support from the majority of parents who spoke during the two-and-a-half hour meeting, some did question why the CBE was willing to part ways with the program.
"I looked up the total budget for the Calgary Board of Education, and according to your website it's $1.375 billion — and potential savings for shutting down this school, which is one of the high points for sport in Calgary, is $1.35 million," said father, Carl Riabowol.
"If you do the arithmetic that works out to a tremendous 0.09 per cent, which is probably less than what you'd get from shutting the lights off [at] the schools in Calgary for 15 minutes every day. So I'm not sure why there is such a strong push to try and shut the school down, when financially, it's quite trivial compared to your total budget."
Breton said it's administration's job to look at the CBE's overall portfolio.
"We have to think of being 120,000 students and how we can attend to their learning needs, and we have a multitude of different schools and different settings for students according to their needs, and we're trying to balance that," he said.
"The finances of the CBE continue to be pressed more and more, and so we are challenged to look at more creative opportunities and ways to be able to serve students."
Breton said the closure was an opportunity that was identified previously, as far back as 2011, when the school moved from Ernest Manning High School.
"This was a temporary solution that did drag out longer than originally intended," he said. "We believe we have an opportunity to be back to a model [at Bowness] that worked well for 17 years, and at the same time allow dollars to be directed to other areas in light of the funding pressures that we're under."
The CBE trustees will vote on the future of the NSS program at a public board meeting on Nov. 25.
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