Mr. Bhardwaj: Alberta Education appears to be moving away from separate schools for elementary students and junior high, or middle schools, and replacing them with larger K to 9 combined schools. My constituents are concerned that their younger children will not receive the attention they need in a larger facility. My questions are to the Minister of Education. What is the rationale behind combin­ing the schools?

Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question of what configuration, what size of school is really a decision that's made by local school boards acting in the best interests of their students and their community. There is a lot to be said. We have through the Inspiring Education process over the course of the last year been talking about how we might change the way we do education, recognizing the current situation, current realities, new technologies, so configurations of classrooms and configurations of schools themselves should be the topic of discussion. With respect to K to 9, I mean, there's a lot of evidence to suggest . . .

Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My next question to the same minister. The needs of a five-year-old vary rapidly from the needs of a 14-year-old. How is combining administration, facilities, and staff going to reflect the disparity in needs?

Mr. Hancock: Well, administration, of course, is something entirely separate in terms of the ability to use administration effectively and efficiently, different from the programming needs. There's a lot of evidence, as I was saying, Mr. Speaker, to suggest that you could make great utilization of combining classes and ages: older students helping younger students, learning together. Quite frankly, we've been doing it. I grew up in rural Alberta. We had K to 12 schools, worked perfectly well. We shouldn't be focusing on specifically any particular type of classroom or configuration but what's in the best interests of the children and the community.

Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My final supplemental to the same minister: with issues such as violence and drugs and alcohol use facing teenagers, is the minister concerned about the interaction between teenagers and elementary-aged students that will require increased supervision?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, regardless of the configuration of the school we have certain requirements that need to be there for students to be successful. We need a respectful and caring school culture. We need safety and security. We need to focus on teaching and learning. We need positive, caring relationships between students and teachers. We need social and behavioural expectations to be adhered to, and we need community involvement. That is true whether we're talking about a grade 1 to 3 school or a grade 1 to 9 school or a grade 1 to 12 school. Those behavioural expectations and the focus on making sure that it's a safe and caring place for students has got to be our ultimate priority.