Thread by @karissapatton

Been following the news about the relocation Louise Dean Centre and the alumni and students organizing (@LdcYyc) to keep a distinct space for pregnant and parenting teens in #yyc Let’s explore the hist of the program and why it is STILL important to #reproductivejustice 🧵
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The program will be moved away from a space where pregnant and parenting teens can go to school alongside an elementary school and childcare facility – and where childcare and edu for their own children was offered. Instead, the program is to move to another local high school
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Along with worries re. childcare, LDC alumni, students are concerned about the bullying and stigma from other students not in the program. Some, who have exited abusive relationships, worry about safety w the new potential of going to school with their ex or friends of the ex
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These worries echo the 1970s discourse around the est. of the Calgary school for pregnant teens. In Sept. ‘69, the CBE partnered with Catholic Family Services and est. Bankview School: an official CBE correspondence program for pregnant teens + 1st school of its kind in Canada
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The program, supported by CFS, was likely est. in response to new abortion laws. The correspondence program run by the CBE – the public school system – shows that at the end of the day, Bankview was created to provide pregnant teens with edu. they could not access elsewhere
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Pregnant teens were not allowed to stay in school. This was not just the policy in AB and these policies are not a relic of the 70s either. Most of these policies have only recently been removed, other barriers to edu remain for pregnant and parenting students across Canada
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The seasoned educators and public health nurses who established and ran the CBE’s Bankview School knew that teenage pregnancy was not uncommon. They wanted young pregnant students to continue their education
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And this program worked. Bankview had super high graduation rates, a success of the program that has been maintained at LDC with a graduation rate of over 90%.
But Bankview was not JUST about providing education
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Those running the school felt that forcing pregnant teens to hide from society and their peers was cruel. They hoped the program would foster community among the students so those attending Bankview would have a support network of preg. + parenting peers
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Those who attended Bankview described the importance of the program. Many were pleased they could still finish high school and start university programs. Others were grateful for the prenatal classes offered as they felt stigmatized in courses full of married couples
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Some Bankview attendees found solace in the housing program facilitated by the school after they were kicked out of their homes. Most of them enjoyed having other teens around so they could talk to other pregnant and parenting teens and offer support to one another
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Bankview was not perfect, the history of the school is fraught with class and respectability politics of the 1970s. The debates about the relocation of the LDC today similarly underscores class, race, gender politics in Calgary today
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Bankview importantly provided pregnant and parenting teens with immediate and on-the-ground educational services and made a safe and supportive space for pregnant and parenting teens to form community during a time when teen pregnancy was often hidden at all costs
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Those running Bankview in the early 1970s, laid the foundation for the Louise Dean Centre which has provided education services to pregnant and parenting teens in Calgary for decades. Many alumni say their life would look very different without their time at LDC.
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The LDC alumni and students protesting the relocation of the program have made it clear that this specific, safe, accessible space for pregnant and parenting teens and their children needs to be maintained
calgaryherald.com/news/local-new…
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Pregnant and parenting teens must have access to equitable services that reflect their needs. To support #reproductivejustice and provide equitable education in our communities, we need to listen to, and take seriously, the needs + concerns of LDC alumni and students @yyCBEdu
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You can support the Save LDC community, @LdcYyc, on their social media pages, signing their petition, or donating to their go fund me page:
change.org/p/save-louise-…
gofund.me/3b78ed10
Fin.