Ridgetown’s high school won’t be getting a track anytime soon, after the Municipality’s budget committee voted against contributing $75,000.
Councillor David VanDamme says the community asked for help after other schools were successful,
“What has happened is that a precedent was set back in 2001 when Council agreed to fund sports tracks at CKSS” He says, “Since then, we’ve adopted the 25% model, so to be fair to the process, we asked for 25% of the project costs as well”
VanDamme says a community organization has been raising money to fund the running and walking track, which they say will not only benefit the students, but the community as a whole.
They’ve raised $167,000 so far, which has gone to installing bleachers and other project-related costs. The next phase, which involves the creation of the track, will cost about $300,000.
The budget committee’s main concern is that the high school may be consolidated into a larger school in the near future and installing a new track is a risky investment if the school could close.
The Accommodation Review Committee is expected to come to a decision on the high school’s future within the year.