The first public meeting of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division’s board of trustees following a summer break was a short one, on Aug. 20, in the division’s head office in Weyburn.
The half-hour session saw the directors approve a motion to grant the Estevan Saskatchewan Summer Games committee the authorization to issue naming rights for the new track that has been placed on the school grounds. The track will be used extensively during the Summer Games to be held
in the Energy City next July.
Board chairwoman Audrey Trombley, said the request did not stipulate a time limit for the naming rights, other than a reference to the desire to have the names attached to the track for a minimum of five years.
A sign, similar to the one already installed on the school’s campus near the front entrance, will be erected near the track to bear the names of the company, companies or individuals once they are revealed.
The names of the proposed recipients of the naming rights, did surface at the Cornerstone board table, but a request from the Summer Games committee to hold the names in abeyance, pending a formal announcement, has been agreed to by the Mercury.
“The new track is a real benefit to the school,” said Estevan trustee Pam Currie in voting in favour of the motion.
Janet Foord, the other Estevan trustee, who joined the session via a video hook-up, was assured there were no costs being incurred by the school division in the process and the vote passed unanimously.
The board members then heard a presentation from Christie Wolf from the Wapella area concerning her request to have another young family member be allowed to ride a school bus to McNaughton School in Moosomin along with his brother, since the bus already makes a stop in the family’s yard.
Various arguments were cited by Wolf who was seeking a grandfather clause to be instituted which would allow her son to make the trip to Moosomin rather than enroll in the Wapella School this coming school year. The opportunity for her son to access more necessary programming was one of the arguments posted by Wolf.
The board went into an in-camera session to debate the request and later returned with the decision to grant the family’s request.
Two other applications or appeals to circumvent the school division’s stated policy regarding school boundaries and busing were denied, while one other was approved since the request adhered to the Courtesy Rider Program parameters which allows transportation from an existing pick up point within a school’s boundary.
The board will meet again on Sept. 17, for their next open session.
