Southern Alberta community shuts school doors

A much-loved elementary school west of Sylvan Lake closed its doors for the last time Friday, despite parents attempts to try and save it.

Benalto School had suffered from low student numbers and was expensive to run.

Chinook's Edge School Division board voted to close it back in April.

Kurt Sacher, superintendent of the school district, said studies and committees tasked with looking for solutions, all came to one difficult choice.

"Our trustees were faced with the agonizing, difficult decision to close the school this year," Sacher explained.

"In the long term, can they continue to have two teachers for 20 or so children? Probably not."

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He says heunderstands how parents are looking at this.

"Our school division, our trustees very much empathize with community of Benalto. We've got some parents and community folks here that have just been so strong in trying to advocate for their children, for their community and we have nothing but respect and admiration for all that they have done."

Angie Schickerowski is a parent who was part of the review committee.

She says it's going to be hard on the kids.

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"It is going to be really tough," Schickerowski said.

"The transition part here, we have families going in five different directions. Our kids that have grown up together, that went to school together. Now they are going to be in a bunch of different schools. It is going to be really tough."

Another parent, Darren Sanders, says it is a loss to the hamlet.

"We have got lots of families around here. We brought our family out because we didn't want to be in the bigger centres," Sanders said.

"My younger one was going to start here. She turns five this year and she has got to travel on a bus all the way to Sylvan Lake."

Students will be bused to Sylvan Lake's C.P. Blakely Elementary School, roughly 15 kilometres away, next school year.

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