Conservative MPs Stephanie Kusie and Arnold Viersen said it's wrong for the Louise Dean Centre (LDC) to be relocated from Kensington School in Calgary. .“I was very bothered recently to see in the city of Calgary the Louise Dean School for pregnant teenagers is being shut down and moved to another school in a different location,” said Kusie in a Friday video. .Calgary Board of Education (CBE) trustees unanimously agreed in September to gather public input as they look into closing and relocating the program for pregnant teens at LDC’s inner city location to a regular high school in Forest Lawn, despite strong opposition from students and staff. .LDC provides classes for about 50 students from Grade 9 to 12, childcare, life skills programming, and mental health supports. It is exclusive to pregnant teens and young mothers at Kensington School..CBE officials said as enrolment drops and rates of teen pregnancies decline in Canada, the program might have to close at the existing site. .The Alberta Parents’ Union (APU) said no on November 16 to the CBE’s proposal to relocate a program for pregnant teens to Jack James High School in Calgary after a stabbing the previous day. .READ MORE: Alberta Parents' Union says no to moving unwed teen moms to Jack James High School in Calgary."The Calgary Board of Education is attempting to move the extremely successful Louise Dean Centre for unwed teen moms still in high school to Jack James High School in the Forest Lawn neighbourhood of Calgary," said APU Executive Director Jeff Park. ."The closest LRT station is Marlborough Station, where stabbings are common, and this week, a pregnant woman was attacked with a hatchet.".Kusie acknowledged Viersen has taken an interest in this issue and done advocacy about it. She asked him to give his thoughts about the LDC being moved. .Viersen called the LDC “a gem in Alberta for a very long time.” .“It has helped thousands of women who found themselves to be pregnant while still in high school,” he said. .“It is widely loved by the community.” .He said the decision to close it down was “atrocious.” He added he hopes it will be reversed. .“I look forward to hearing from people from across the country who are concerned about this kind of action taken by the Calgary school board,” he said.
