School divisions could mirror health region lines
Saskatchewan school division boundaries may expand in the coming years.
Consultations about amalgamation are set to start this fall; meanwhile, the Ministry of Education will pay close attention to a review of options to reduce the number of regional health authorities, which was announced last week.
On Wednesday, Education Minister Don Morgan said ministry staff are working to determine what the consultation process for education will look like, but he would like it to occur alongside consultations on health region boundaries.
“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.
Last week, the province announced the appointment of a three-person panel to “lead the work of reviewing and advising on options for reducing the number of Regional Health Authorities in Saskatchewan.”
While no amalgamation decision has been finalized on the education front, Morgan said “it’s certainly a possibility” that school divisions could be drawn along the same boundaries as health regions. That way, resources, like a child psychologist for example, working within a health region could also offer services to a school division.
Morgan said for a portion of the consultations, 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.
Discussions about drawing division boundaries along health region lines are taking place, which may result in larger divisions, but it’s not likely Saskatoon’s two major school divisions — Saskatoon Public and Greater Saskatoon Catholic — would merge, he said.
“There would not be a lot of financial gain or efficiencies by combining them,” Morgan said. “We probably would expect to see a lot fewer school divisions in the province, but I don’t see that it would be a great benefit by not having a public and separate school board. They usually work to provide complimentary services.”
Morgan said amalgamation of school boards could save costs by reducing the number of trustees, administrative staff and superintendents, but the ministry will work with divisions to determine if this type of re-drawing would be beneficial.
Connie Bailey, president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, said while she’s had no formal discussions with the ministry, the organization is willing to work with the government as the process continues.
Bailey said school divisions already share resources with health regions, and she would be interested in hearing why the government feels amalgamation should be considered.
“We need to make sure that this meets the needs of our students,” she said. “The government may look at the coterminous boundaries, but as boards of education and trustees, we’re going to say, ‘How does this make it better for our students?’ ”
We need to make sure that this meets the needs of our students.
Bailey said while previous amalgamations have resulted in better services for students in some cases, cost savings were “minimal” and sharing of potential services, resources and staff between divisions would likely be a “very minute” part of the overall education budget.
NDP education critic NDP Carla Beck said she’s not surprised the government is looking at amalgamation and she’s fine with the idea where it makes sense.
However, she said she hopes a thorough consultation takes place, asserting that did not occur in 2009 when the provincial government cut and capped education property taxes.
“We have to make sure that we’re properly consulting these people in education, with parents, teachers and other stakeholders, and providing enough time and proper scope to ensure that we do get those voices so we aren’t hit with untended consequences,” she said.