There is a growing frustration among students, school staff and even Cornerstone board trustees with the delays to renovations at the Weyburn Comprehensive, and an uncertainty if a new building will be approved to replace the Weyburn Junior High.
There is a growing frustration among students, school staff and even Cornerstone board trustees with the delays to renovations at the Weyburn Comprehensive, and an uncertainty if a new building will be approved to replace the Weyburn Junior High.
"These delays are disrupting student's lives," said Janet Foord, Estevan trustee for Cornerstone.
Trustees with Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division were updated on the Weyburn school facilities plan during their meeting on Thursday.
Back in 2010, Cornerstone developed a five-year capital projects plan, which included the Weyburn school facilities plan. Originally, the two-phase project for the Weyburn Comprehensive was projected to run from June 2009 to April 2014.
However, as reported during the Cornerstone board meeting, phase one of the Comp renovations are still ongoing, with a projected completion this fall.
Also, phase two of the renovations is now being projected with a completion of 2015.
Another piece of the Weyburn school facilities plan was the Weyburn Junior High renewal to an elementary school. Originally back in 2010 the completion date for this renewal was 2015.
However, Cornerstone recently assessed the Weyburn Junior High and it was recommended that a new school should be constructed, instead of a remodel. Cornerstone trustees are concerned since the Ministry of Education was unable to provide any date when, or if, a new building would be approved for the Weyburn Junior High.
"There are a lot of changes to educational funding that the government is still finalizing, especially in relation to capital funding," said Dustin Duncan, MLA for Weyburn-Big Muddy and Health Minister.
In his role as MLA, Duncan has met with Cornerstone board trustees to hear their concerns, and has met with Russ Marchuk, Minister of Education in regard to the Weyburn facilities plan.
"The board wants some clear direction to where the Weyburn Junior High rejuvenation project is on the Ministry's capital project timeline."
"Each year the Minister of Education, much like other portfolios, receives a long list of school facilities that need renovating or communities that require a new school building," said Duncan. "They need to identify and prioritize each of those facilities."
"We are in good economic times that we should be able to solve problems like this one," said David Forbes, critic for education for the New Democrat Party of Saskatchewan. "Education should be a priority, but school boards have their hands tied because they can no longer raise their own taxes."
The biggest concerns from Cornerstone trustees were for students and staff in Haig School, one of the two elementary schools that are projected to be closed and moved into the renewed Weyburn Junior High facility. The best estimation Cornerstone could provide for relocation of Haig students and staff is now 2019.
"Haig school has always been the key to our school facilities plan," said Bryan Wilson, trustee for Weyburn. "It was back in 2003 that parents and staff from this school addressed serious concerns with the board of that day because the school was unacceptable for the students."
"If the project at the Weyburn Junior High doesn't go ahead, it will harm those staff and students at Haig," said Wilson.
"The school board is at a point where they know they have to close Haig school," said Duncan. He added that Cornerstone does have to deal with maintenance of Haig school as long as the building stays open as a school.
"It is incredible that nothing has been done about this school year, especially when you think about the fact that it has health issues and safety issues," said Forbes. "It doesn't make any sense not to fix the situation when you have children at risk. "
"These schools (that have safety concerns) are not a surprise to the Ministry of Education," said Forbes. "They should be prepared to deal with the older schools in our province that need to be addressed."
There are other schools that are affected by the delays to the Weyburn school facilities plan. Queen Elizabeth school is also projected to be closed, but staff and students must wait for the Weyburn Junior High to be renewed before they relocate.
There is also a renewal planned for Souris School, with some construction taking place to enhance certain aspects of the school facility. There is no projected date when that renewal will start, or be completed.
"Cornerstone does have a bigger plan for their Weyburn schools, that has a lot of moving parts," said Duncan. "The school division has done the right thing with a staged approach for these schools, and they do have a good plan in place."
"It is important that the Minister of Education sees the complete plan. We are fairly close to moving Weyburn Junior High students to the Comp, and the next part of the plan - the WJH facility - does need to be addressed," said Duncan.
"In previous proposals from the school board to the Ministry of Education, the WJH facility was a renovation. Does the conversation need the change? We need to look at the comparison of renovating to building new," added Duncan.
The renovation project at the Comp is also a financial concern for Cornerstone, as over 100 change orders were required since contract one was awarded. Currently, Cornerstone is uncertain to how those change orders will affect them.
Forbes said that school divisions lost the opportunity to do the right things for their schools ever since the Ministry of Education started implemented a province-wide taxation rate. "Also, during the transition period of the Ministry taking over the taxation, a lot was mishandled."
The Ministry of Education will be reviewing the borrowing-money policy that schools currently can access.
