Division News Article

February 24, 2021 Board Meeting News

March 1st, 2021

The February 24th, 2021 board meeting was held at Regional Office in Barrhead. 

School board considers 2021-2022 busing fees

The board annually establishes transportation fees for:

  • In-town busing
  • Rural students accessing transportation to a school of choice
  • Alternate sites for students accessing more than one bus stop

These transportation services are not funded by Alberta Education, but are a service the division provides for a fee. A cost analysis of the in-town bus routes indicates that they are not operating on a cost recovery basis and the board may want to consider alternative ways to offer in-town busing without subsidizing the cost.

Administration will provide additional cost recovery options for in-town busing that the board will consider at their next meeting.

2021-2022 Alternate School Year Calendars

The traditional school year in Alberta is defined as a school year running from the end of August (or beginning of September) to the end of June, operating five days a week with breaks for Christmas and Spring Break. The division calendar is the foundation for all alternate school calendars. The interconnected nature of the student transportation system, and the distance between schools are also factors that must be considered when creating an alternate school year calendar.

In accordance with Administrative Procedures 60-05 School Year Calendar and 40-25 Alternate Operational Day Calendars – Certificated Staff schools submitted their 2021-2022 alternate school year calendars for review by administration and authorization by the board. All calendars were approved with the exception of Neerlandia Public Christian School which will be brought forward to the next board meeting.

All calendars are available on the division website at www.pembinahills.ca/school-calendars/

Barrhead Outreach student nominated for Indigenous Student Award

The school board is pleased to announce the nomination of Barrhead Outreach student Anthony Calliou for the Alberta School Boards Association Honouring Spirit: Indigenous Student Award. Pembina Hills First Nations, Métis & Inuit Liaison Darleen Olson nominated Anthony for the award. Congratulations Anthony!

Check out the board meeting agenda and minutes for more information.

The next school board meeting will be held at the Regional Office on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 starting at 9:00 a.m. Members of the public are invited to view a livestream of the meeting on our website.