Students involved in SD22's Awaken Inquiry and Adventure Okanagan program (photo courtesy of Sandra Karn / Facebook)

By Liam Verster

low registration

School program ending, but not permanently off table: principal

Jan 22, 2024 | 6:00 AM

An alternative learning program in School District 22 will not be offered next school year simply due to the numbers, a school official says.

The Awaken Inquiry Adventure Okanagan (AIAO), which has been available to grade 7 to 12 students at Fulton Secondary, will shut down after this school year.

“In the last two years the enrollment has declined and we’ve had a lot of kids transfer out of the program in their Grade 10, 11 and 12 years,” Fulton Principal Mike Edgar told Vernon Matters.

“It currently has 20 to 23 students, some of those are transitioning out this year as the year has progressed, so to sustain the program as we would like to see it, we would need over 40 students [enrolled].”

Edgar said reaching that target of 40 students “has never happened,” noting that the program’s average enrollment was six new students per year, but registrations were offset by students transitioning out of the program or graduating.

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He said all programs are driven by registration to ensure resources are properly distributed.

“The other trick with the low numbers is it also reduces the amount of options that can happen within the program, because it reduces the number of teachers which reduces the number of inquiry projects we can offer,” Edgar explained.

“In the past, we had up to four teachers in the program, and now there’s currently two, and going into next year, it’s reached a point where, mathematically, there’s only enough students for one teacher, but that wouldn’t be academically possible for one teacher to meet the needs of all of those kids and be out in the community as much as they want.”

AIAO uses experiential educational practices where educators and students are engage in learning opportunities together.

The principal added the school district will continue to offer “the same types of learning” to those undertaken within the AIAO, including involvement in the Climate Action Ripple Effect project and students volunteering as tutors.

“The same type of learning can happen in classrooms. It’s just that that program has those students all day, every day, kind of like the elementary school model, where in high school there’s the block rotation model,” Edgar explained.

“There’s lots of opportunities for kids in Fulton to give back and get involved in the community as well.”

An online petition launched by local parents to keep the AIAO in place stated that the program provides a great alternative learning opportunity for students with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and other mental health challenges.

Edgar agreed the program does serve neurodivergent students, but said they would not be left behind with the AIAO shutting down.

“If we have to go into next year without this program, we have a transition plan in place to help any student transition into whatever program best meets their needs,” the principal told Vernon Matters.

“We have met with several parents already. I know some parents are trying to increase registrations for next year, and I’ll be meeting with that group later.”

The group organizing the petition has applied to appear as a delegation at SD22’s Board of Education meeting in February.

Edgar added the AIAO, which was a rebranding of the former Vernon Community School, could be reintroduced as a new program again, or, if enrollment increased, it could be restored by the school board in the future.