Excuse moi?
That’s the sentiment among hundreds of residents in a northwest Calgary community who have launched a major campaign to prevent a 400-student Francophone school from being established over a portion of a treasured park.
Residents in Scenic Acres contend they had no indication that a regional facility run by Conseil Scolaire FrancoSud was in the works until a provincial announcement green lighting the project came in February.
The land, located along Scenic Acres Drive NW, had previously belonged to the Calgary Board of Education, but it was deemed “surplus” and handed to the Francophone board in 2011.
At a meeting in late May, more than 350 residents attended to protest the school’s development, according to Ward 1 Coun. Ward Sutherland.
“They were pretty hostile,” he said.
Scenic Acres residents have formed the “Save Our Park Steering Committee,” and have begun collecting donations and drafting petitions in hopes of preventing the school’s development. But committee representatives refused to take questions from Metro on the matter Tuesday.
“A process is currently underway to determine the best location for a new regional elementary school for the Conseil Scolaire FrancoSud in northwest Calgary,” read an email response. “It would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.”
Anne-Marie Boucher, trustee chair for the Francophone board, confirmed her organization is now looking at alternative vacant sites on land owned by both the CBE and the Calgary Catholic School District in an effort to be “good neighbours.”
“Yes, we were surprised,” she said of the initial community reaction. “Usually, a school in a neighbourhood is good news . . . it seems that some people think we’re taking over the whole greenspace, but the space is supposed to be a shared space.
Boucher said the school would allow them to move students from its packed site near Market Mall, formerly called Jerry Potts School when run by the CBE. She said that site is in need of renovations and has five modulars attached to it — even then some kids are forced to learn in the library due to space pressures.
Neither Boucher nor Sutherland would specify what other communities the facility could be established in, but the councillor said alternative locations had been proposed in his own ward as well as two others.
Area residents enjoying the Scenic Acres park Tuesday afternoon appeared largely unaware of the potential school development despite a sign placed by the community committee advising them to be informed.
Ryu Araki relaxes at the park with his wife and two kids routinely, but said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to the school either.
“She’s interested in French-immersion (for the kids),” Araki said, before adding, “but this is also a really good space.”
A potential move of the Francophone school has also caught the attention of Alberta Education Minister Jeff Johnson who urg ed Sutherland and the school boards to come to a “speedy resolution.”
“I would stress that these decisions on school site locations are made at the local level by municipalities and their school boards and that that province has not involved in the site selection process,” the minster wrote.
Controversy has flared recently in another northwest community as Varsity residents stormed the office of MLA Donna Kennedy-Glans to complain about the potential impacts of establishing a replacement school for special-needs students at Christine Meikle in their neighbourhood.
Sutherland said the frustration in Scenic Acres again comes down largely to a lack of notice and questions about site selection. He said traffic and congestion issues will emerge with the new school and it’s estimated just eight kids from the community will attend the school with the 392 being bussed in.
“The days are gone when you don’t do public consultation,” he said. “I don’t get it — it should be standard policy.”
Calgarians hate schools?
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