Lynn Little, director of education for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, backed up by a couple of school administrators, presented a report on measuring and monitoring continuous improvements in the division to Cornerstone's board of trustees on Sept. 15.
Little's written report included a chart outlining assessments completed within Cornerstone's 39 schools in 2013-14 in accordance with the three priority areas identified in the division's four-year plan: Mathematics, early learning and graduation rates.
Using a variety of methods and materials, the division measures, monitors and reports continuous improvement in each of the three areas outlined in the plan that ensures student success.
Evidence was provided of 23 presentations involving assessments and the measuring and monitoring and reporting of assessments that were made to various audiences. Those audiences included the board of education, administrators, the National Congress on Rural Education in Canada and the executive council, to name just a few throughout the year.
Data shared with these groups focused on assessment expectations and triangulation of evidence, career services, an effective reading forum, web reading, creating connections in online learning environments and student services with sample presentations given to the audiences.
Dan Manning and Susan Husband, principal and vice-principal at Assiniboia Park Elementary School in Weyburn, presented data on their school's math goal, which was problem solving by helping students to understand problems followed by full explanations behind their answers. They explained their school's math journey that entailed data collection, goal development, problem solving research, benchmarking, school community council involvement, student/parent engagement and finally, results that included a couple of individual student samples of growth in communication.
The two administrators then gave the trustees an opportunity to do a little math homework too, to be completed by the end of the meeting. They also displayed a data wall that contained numerous graphs that charted progress and success within each of their math targets.
In another segment of the meeting, the board members handled a trio of appeals regarding administration's decision to deny requests to have students attend schools that are not in their family's attendance area.
In all three instances, the schools being requested were already at, or near capacity in terms of student enrolments.
Later in an interview, board chairman Harold Laich said, "we still grapple with attendance areas and boundary breaking requests. They come to us with special situations attached so we have to approve or not approve these special cases and I suppose these requests will always be there because of the size of the division," referring to Cornerstone's 39 facilities and more than 8,200 students.
In terms of having schools filled to overflowing, Laich said in the public school system, there are at least two schools that are currently at maximum capacity. McLeod Elementary School in Moosomin and Spruce Ridge School in Estevan are at that stage now, he said. There could be more.
As for the other scenario, the need to review schools that do not meet the benchmark minimum enrolment requirements, Laich said that issue will be handled at an Oct. 2 special meeting where Little will provide the trustees with a list of schools that may require a second look if they don't meet basic enrolment requirements.
Last year Cornerstone had a couple of schools that could have qualified for review with the intention of possibly closing them, but the trustees were unanimous in a decision to not place any facility under notice since it was felt that future growth potential was significant. That decision will now be re-visited along with any other potential additions to the schools under review list.
"The directors report referring to the enrolment base requirements that might trigger a review will be handled at the Oct. 2 meeting. There will be a strategic planning meeting and if there is a need to conduct a special open board meeting to declare the schools that will be under review, we'll do that a little later on in the day," said Laich.
Schools that are placed under review for possible closure must be identified and the residents who might be affected by the issue, have to be afforded ample time in which to mount counter arguments and presentations to prevent the closure process from moving forward.
