More than 300 pieces of property owned by the Living Sky School Division need to be disposed of, says the division's chief financial officer.
But before the division can dispose of them, they have to be identified and what they are being used for, if anything, has to be determined. Just because the division isn't using them, doesn't mean somebody else isn't.
"There are many pieces of property that are still in our name that we don't know what's on them," Lonny Darroch told board of education members last week at the board's regular meeting.
In some cases, he explained, these properties are being cared for and used by the community, but the title may never have been transferred.
The present-day Living Sky came about in 2006 with the amalgamation of the former Battlefords School Division, LandsWest School Division and the Sonningdale and Cando school districts of the Biggar School Division. The amalgamation was part of a provincial initiative that reduced the number of school divisions in Saskatchewan from more than 80 to 28.
At the time of amalgamation most school divisions would have assigned someone to making sure unused properties were disposed of, said Darroch, either selling them or transferring them to community user groups. Living Sky didn't, he said.
"We have a list of properties we own, but we don't know what's on them, if there are schools still on them, or if they are being used."
He also pointed out the need to take action soon.
"Effective 2014-15 we will have to account for any potential environmental hazards on any of our pieces of property," said Darroch.
He asked that his predecessor, former finance office Ray Kopera, be contracted to identify the properties and their uses to prepare for their disposal by transfer or sale. The board agreed.
The division has had requests to sell vacant land in the village of Adanac.
