Hello Parents,
This has been a difficult month for the staff and parents of West Ridge School as we have had to plan for major changes.
The first change to come our way was the announcement that the CBE would have its budget cut by $32 million. Because any cuts would only be able to come into effect in January, this was the equivalent of having to cut $48 million from our September budget. As most parents are aware, this resulted in over 300 temporary teachers receiving layoff notice. This resulted in West Ridge having to look deeply into how to cut a significant amount from our budget mid-year. We developed a plan that we feel results in the least impact on students and maintaining programming as best we can. This plan has not been shared with parents or staff as we were waiting for CBE approval.
As you may have heard on the news, the government has now enabled the CBE to access funding from the “IMR” budget typically set aside for maintenance and renovations. At the time of writing the CBE had been given approval to access $15 million from this budget. We do not know at this time what this will mean for our plan and to the cuts that may be required at our school. We will keep you informed as soon as more information is available.
The other major change to our school community was the re-designation of the Cougar Ridge community to Central Memorial High School. As you may be aware, the CBE is completing a massive engagement to look at how to designate communities and programs to the board’s high schools to ensure that no high schools are over or under utilized. This engagement is to conclude in a new plan for all CBE high schools beginning in the 2022-23 school year.
Ernest Manning High School, however, is projected to be so over capacity that the board needed to re-designate some communities immediately to alleviate this problem. The CBE made a decision to re-designate all communities east of Sarcee Trail, as well as Cougar Ridge, Patterson, Coach Hill, and Discovery Ridge to Central Memorial High School for the next two school years. There is more information regarding this decision included within the newsletter.
We would like to share that within our school walls, learning goes on, and students continue to thrive. Our Annual Results Report is posted on the school web site and shared within this newsletter. It highlights many of our academic accomplishments. On behalf of the staff of West Ridge School I would like to wish all families a safe and joyous holiday season and a restful winter break. We thank you for your ongoing support and advocacy.
Ryan O’Shaughnessy Principal
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