Boards eager to talk about boundaries
Catholic school divisions hope to stay ahead of any amalgamation plans
The chairs of the province’s largest Catholic school divisions say they’re eager to start consultations with the provincial government about school board amalgamations.
On Wednesday, Education Minister Don Morgan said the province in the process of developing exactly what the consultations will look like. He noted his ministry will pay close attention to a review underway aimed at examining options for reducing the number of regional health authorities.
Morgan said he would like consultations on school board amalgamation to take place alongside the health region review to find out if there would be any benefits in having school division lines mirror those of the health regions.
“We’ll want to work somewhat in tandem with that so we can get an assessment whether we should have coterminous boundaries or how much the boundaries might overlap in the health and the social service district, so that we’re able to share resources as much as we can,” he said in a previous interview.
Morgan said nothing has been finalized on school board amalgamation, as he wants to work with divisions to find out what its benefit may be.
Frank Flegel, chair of the Regina Catholic School Division’s board of trustees, said it’s difficult to know what amalgamation would mean for the division without hard plans in place.
“We’d be anxious to get the consultation process started so that the conclusion of the study would be available,” he said. “It’s difficult to make any plans for the future when you’re really not sure what’s going to be coming down the pipe.”
He noted the Catholic school division already works closely with the public division, as senior administrators work together on developing the school calendar and holiday schedules.
Diane Boyko, chair of Saskatoon’s Catholic school division, said it’s important for divisions and the overall education sector to examine options for potential savings.
“We should always look through and examine and find out if we’re doing things in the right way,” Boyko said. “If there are possible ways of doing things that are better, then we should never shy away from that.”
Boyko noted she would like divisions to be involved throughout the consultation process.
“We want to be able to work with the ministry to ensure the building of the consultation is part of what we’re doing as well,” she said. “Not only just answering the questions, but also formulating them.”
Morgan said it’s likely the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation and trustees and superintendents will be represented on a panel meeting with stakeholders across the province.
The chairs of the Regina Public School Division and the Saskatoon Public School Division were unavailable for comment on Thursday.
Webe work able want withto to the ministry to ensure the building of the consultation is part of what we’re doing as well.