Chinook School Division provides various options for Stewart Valley students after school fire in regards to relocation of classes
A destructive fire at Stewart Valley School delayed the start of the new school year for 41 students, but they are now back in class at three different locations.
A lightning strike hit the Stewart Valley School on Aug. 26. It started a fire that caused major damage to the school and community centre.
The regular school year started on Sept. 1 for students in Chinook School Division. Those registered at Stewart Valley School had to wait until Sept. 12 for alternative arrangements to be in place after consultation with parents. Chinook Deputy Director of Education Kathy Robson said most parents expressed a clear preference for students to remain together.
“We had sent out a survey to find out what the parents wanted and then they sent us back their intent of what they wished to happen,” she mentioned. “We also had a parent meeting, and there was a strong will to have the Stewart Valley students stay together. There was a big portion of the parents that really wanted the students to stay together as a school.”
Chinook School Division considered this option and determined that a workable arrangement was possible at Success School.
“We have set up a school within a school in Success,” she said. “So Stewart Valley is still remaining its own school within Success School, and there are 26 students from kindergarten to Grade 8 that the family’s chose to have their students go there.”
The Success School students will continue their classroom arrangements without any changes and at the same time the students and staff from Stewart Valley School will use space in the same building to function as a unit.
“The Success staff was extremely flexible in creating some space,” she said. “So they had a couple of classrooms that were kind of multi-purpose rooms that they were able to repurpose into classrooms and another classroom that they were able to free up.”
Robson spoke with appreciation about the efforts locally in Success and within the school division to provide a new learning space for Stewart Valley School students.
“The staff and the community have been fantastic and extremely welcoming of the students coming into their building,” she said. “They’ve just done a really great job of making sure that the space is ready. I think our whole division has done a really great job of trying to do everything we can to make that space ready and also to get the kids into school as quickly as possible.”
This arrangement includes the staff from Stewart Valley School, who will continue their duties with students at their new location.
“They are moving with the students in a variety of different roles,” she said. “The teachers are moving with the students that they would have been teaching at their grade levels and the other staff are also for the most part moving, maybe in different positions, but they’re all moving with the students.”
The Chinook School Division also provided alternative options for parents who expressed a desire for a different arrangement.
“There were also some parents that wanted some choice in terms of what was happening in their life,” she said. “Depending on if they were maybe working in Swift Current and depending on if it was going to be too long of a bus ride for them to come from a certain area to Success, then they may choose one of the other two schools.”
The alternative options were for parents to register their children for the 2022-23 school year at O.M. Irwin School in Swift Current or at Waldeck School. Several families decided to use one of these options. As a result, seven students are going to O.M. Irwin School and eight students are attending Waldeck School.
“Transportation is provided for all of the students that were registered in Stewart Valley School at the time of the fire,” Robson noted. “All of those students have had transportation provided to either Success, Waldeck or Irwin.”
Chinook Director of Education Mark Benesh said procedurally these transportation arrangements for Stewart Valley School students are only in place for the current school year.
“They’re in the Success catchment and we have other people who maybe drive their kids to Swift Current,” he explained. “So it’s not fair that these individuals would get it more longer term. The point of it is that no decisions have been made and the transportation is just for a one year, just like we’re planning on being in Success for the upcoming year, and then we’ll judge based on whatever our circumstance is.”
The school division is unable to consider future arrangements for Stewart Valley School students until more information becomes available.
“Right now, there’s no decisions on a long-term plan, because there’s still a variety of factors, insurance and other things, that the board is getting information on,” he said. “At this point, we’re just collecting information. Nothing more. There’s lots of things that the board doesn’t know at this juncture. The only thing we’ve committed with the community was that we’re going to do all we can to solve our short-term plan. So that’s been the focus.”