The Minister of Education has decided to return Kamsack school tax money for use in the Kamsack area instead of using it to help construct a school in Langenburg as was originally planned.
District residents were upset when they learned that the Minister had decided to spend for a Langenburg school about $120,000 of tax revenue that had been raised in the Kamsack area for Kamsack schools prior to amalgamation into the Good Spirit School Division.
The Kamsack Community Council expressed its concern, lobbied the government and circulated a petition calling for the return of the funds.
On November 5, Lois Smandych, chair of the Good Spirit School Division board received a letter from Don Morgan, Minister of Education saying that the Division may retain those funds.
“On June 23, the Good Spirit School Division submitted a request to the Ministry of Education to review the decision to use the remaining balance in the S.286 pre-April 2009 capital reserves for the Langenburg School Project,” the letter reads. “At that time, the school division requested the $120,000 in capital reserves be maintained for the following Kamsack capital projects (for): $50,000, track upgrades for Kamsack Comprehensive Institute; $50,000 natural gas bus equipment/infrastructure replacement for Kamsack Bus Garage, and $20,000 playground upgrades at Kamsack Comprehensive Institute and Victoria School in Kamsack.
“Upon further review of the Kamsack projects and the current estimated final cost of the Langenburg project, the ministry will be able to complete construction without using the S.286 pre-April 2009 capital reserves,” the letter says. “The ministry will allocate $120,000 of the remaining contingency to complete the construction of the Langenburg School and Good Spirit School Division may retain the $120,000 in the S.286 pre-April 2009 capital reserve account which previously belonged to the Kamsack School Division.
“Best wishes on the Langenburg and Kamsack projects,” it says. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Good Spirit School Division.”
