Technology has snowballed distance education. Courses have been completed on school grounds, or at home, which avoids taking an often long, arduous school bus ride. This choice has further reduced the McBride Secondary population, which in turn has increased the gap between the range of programs available at a city high school and a small rural one like McBride. The growth of independent schools has also been a factor. The board has considered combining the secondary and elementary schools. However, the plan was shelved, because each plays a prominent role in the community, and the unfunded costs to retrofit the high school were prohibitive. The high school is well known for their Star athlete Ian Monroe, who is currently in Germany playing in the DEL.