The face of education has continued to evolve and change over the years, with the Ministry of Education recently revising the Education Act. With all the changes to education that have been made, it has been a struggle for parents, staff, students and families to truly make sense of how it impacts their communities.
First, changes were made to the school taxation process when the Ministry of Education took full control of collecting the education taxes and then became responsible on deciding how much each school division would receive from the general revenue. Then the Ministry of Education also provided a minimum of instruction-based education that each school division had to provide in their school calendar, steering all the school divisions in the province to have the same start time.
An outcomes-based reporting system was also released, which changed how students would be marked in their subjects. Curriculum changes were made for many school divisions, so they could better help their students achieve graduation rates.
For the boards of education, instead of being able to make direct impact on their communities, they now have to file paperwork that must be approved by the Ministry of Education first. It is the Ministry that decides the ‘minimum’ class numbers that would potentially close a school. It is the Ministry that decides when a school should be renovated (and provides the facility planning for that renovation process). It is also the Ministry that encourages multi-purpose school facilities, so that the community, and businesses and organizations can fundraise additional funding for the project.
Right now, Weyburn has been approved for a new elementary school and the Southeast Cornerstone Public School Board has received funding to start the planning process. The new elementary school is part of the Weyburn Facilities Plan, which resulted in the Weyburn Comprehensive being renovated into a Grade 7 to 12 school.
There are some challenges ahead for Cornerstone, as they plan for the new elementary school. They are planning to demolish the former Weyburn Junior High building and build a brand new elementary school. But first, they have to consider how it will serve the community.
The original goal was to have a new facility for staff and students from Haig and Queen Elizabeth Schools, but now the school board is opening up conversation with staff and families at Souris School to see if there is any interest for their school to be included.
There is also the potential of having a new field house built with the new elementary school. While a new field house would meet the multi-purpose goal for the new facility, the City of Weyburn is also considering building their own field house, instead of partnering with the school division on a shared facility.
It can be quite difficult for the Cornerstone board to make clear and concise plans for the future, when they first must finalize everything through the Ministry of Education. There are many families who are concerned about the future of education in our province, and want clarification from the government on what the bigger picture will become. School decisions affect everyone in a community, and should not happen behind closed doors.
