There is an opportunity for someone to step forward and take part in the process of being a school board trustee for the city of Weyburn on the Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division, and as of Monday, nobody has yet decided to step forward to be a candidate.
The vacancy was created as long-time educator and former principal Warren Betker stepped down as trustee, which is one of two positions representing Weyburn’s interests on the Cornerstone board. The other position is held by trustee Melanie Sorensen.
In the case of Betker stepping down, there has been an issue swirling around in Weyburn in regard to the removal of Wade Oberg as the principal of the Weyburn Comprehensive School. He said this wasn’t his sole reason for stepping down, but he did consider this the “last straw” that broke the camel’s back, with other factors also coming into play before he decided to leave the board.
It should be a concern to taxpayers and parents in general that this long-time educator had some real concerns in regard to the removal of the Comp’s principal, and these should be considered by anyone who is thinking of stepping up to run as a trustee for Cornerstone.
One point he raised is he had a problem with the process used and with the decision made by the board, and the other point is that he wanted a recorded vote on the issue of how to deal with Oberg. As Betker is a friend of Oberg’s, he excused himself from voting, as he felt it would be a conflict of interest.
The vote was not recorded, and this was a problem for Betker as he feels (correctly) that someone elected to such a position ought to be accountable to the people who elected them, and they should be transparent in the decisions they make. This was not the case in the vote to uphold the removal of Oberg as principal, and as a result there have been many rumours, concerns and comments floating around the city and on social media.
As the byelection approaches to fill this vacancy on the board, a candidate should not just think of this issue, as the Cornerstone board deals with the education of all public school students from Pre-K and kindergarten up to Grade 12, and is a heavy and important responsibility to bear. As Betker pointed out, the trustees who are there take their role very seriously, as all school trustees should, and any new candidate ought to have this mindset if they want to represent Weyburn on the board. The hope is the candidate will also want to ensure there is continued accountability and transparency in school board matters. — Greg Nikkel
