The fate of Pangman’s school, a kindergarten to Grade 12 facility, is in the hands of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division’s board of trustees.
The board will have to decide by the end of March whether they need to close the school, discontinue some of the grades, or maintain its operations on a status quo basis.
At about the same time, the board members will be deciding whether to discontinue parts of, or all of Grades 7, 8 and 9 at Wapella School in time for the next school year. Currently, there are no Grade 7-9 students enrolled in that school, which is located close to Moosomin.
On Jan. 19, during their regular business session, the Cornerstone board members decided, by a recorded vote process, to continue to review the Pangman School situation with all options on the table. The motion passed by a 6-4 margin with the two Estevan representatives, Janet Foord and Pam Currie voting in favour of continuing the review.
In speaking against the continuance of a review, Elwood White, who represents that school at the board table, said board members will have to keep in mind that the school is considered a community school and a boon to the town with its refurbished and expanded kitchen facilities, and it houses a community daycare centre. It is also a busy hub for most of the community’s social activities.
School reviews are required by provincial law once enrolments decrease to certain levels, which trigger more discussions regarding staffing requirements, course offerings and other budgetary constraints, which could lead to an inability to meet required programming needs.
In the second recorded vote, the margin was 9-1 in favour of continuing the discussion that will affect Wapella’s Grades 7 to 9 programs only. Board chairwoman Audrey Trombley stated that this motion to resume discussion, will not place Wapella’s school under a closure mandate, but rather, just the discontinuance of one or more of Grades 7, 8 and/or 9.
The board will be meeting with Pangman residents in Pangman on March 15, and then will meet with Wapella citizens, in that town, on March 16.
The decisions regarding the fate of these two schools will be made later that month, with the results being made publicly shortly after.
