An important anniversary was acknowledged Tuesday in North Battleford.
Officials recognized the 10th anniversary of Living Sky School Division No. 202.
It had been 10 years since the amalgamations of school divisions across the province in 2006, when 71 school divisions were amalgamated into the 28 now in place.
Living Sky School Division was one of 12 new divisions created in that process. Its territory covered a vast area that included three former school divisions: the Battlefords, LandsWest (between Wilkie and Kerrobert) and part of the Biggar division (the Cando and Sonningdale districts).
At a ceremony at the Living Sky offices Tuesday morning, board vice-chair Ronna Pethick said Living Sky really had to start from scratch when the amalgamation happened.
“A lot has been accomplished because you start off with a new school division, we didn’t have an employee – not one employee when we first amalgamated.”
That meant hiring a director of education and then hiring the staff, and Pethick noted it meant combining three CUPE agreements into one. It also meant deciding a central location for the school board office, located today in North Battleford.
Pethick said through all the changes the most important people they serve are the students.
“I would say that at the end of the day, 10 years into the amalgamation, that our students are better served. They have better access to specialized people. I believe that there’s counselors, more counselors available for them. The board of education has ensured that our students are better served. I know that at the end of the day there was some concern about the large area, but our students are better served today.”
She credited the “excellent staff, both at central offices and our school staffs.”
Also on hand was Randy Weekes, Biggar MLA, who brought greetings on behalf of minister of education Don Morgan. Morgan was not able to attend as he was in La Loche as that school division continues to deal with the aftermath of the shooting tragedy in that community. The high school in La Loche reopened this week.
Weekes made clear the province remains committed to education.
“The government, the minister and our premier are dedicated to providing good education to students and young people and help them grow into very successful young people and young adults,” said Weekes.
He credited the Living Sky board members and the staff for their work.
“Whenever there’s change there can be some challenges, and they’ve performed very well and it’s been a great success and it’s been an improvement to the education system.”
