Enterprise (Sep 15/03) - Parents of school children from Enterprise have launched a new special interest group.

The informal committee -- which will offer resources and support to parents and students -- held its first meeting Sept. 2, with four parents attending.

The committee is the idea of Bonnie Kimble, chair of the Enterprise Beautification, Education and Recreation (BER) committee.

She says 10 to 12 families in Enterprise send roughly two dozen children to school in Hay River. All parents will be asked to become involved with the new committee.

"We know, as a small group, we can't change the system," she says, although she adds the parents want to make sure their children don't fall through the cracks.

The parents hope the new group can give them a voice in their children's education in Hay River. Kimble explains that, under the Education Act, parents in Enterprise cannot sit on the Hay River District Education Authority (DEA).

The parents also discussed the possibility of forming a DEA for Enterprise. However, Kimble says, "We felt we needed a step before that."

Andrew Butler, the chair of the Hay River DEA, explains that under Education Act regulations a parent has to be a resident of Hay River to sit on the DEA.

However, Butler suggests the DEA and Enterprise parents could petition the minister of education to include Enterprise in the DEA's mandate. "It's not a major change. The minister could do it with the stroke of the pen."

One of the new group's other main concerns is English language arts. It recommended the BER Committee hire a tutor on the subject for Enterprise students.

Its first meeting also discussed using the Enterprise school bus to help Hay River schools with field trips and transporting physically handicapped students.