WEYBURN – Cameron Weber is the third candidate running for the vacant trustee position on the Southeast Cornerstone School Division, along with Dana Pretzer and Megan Schick.
In explaining why he is running for the position, he said, “I have concerns about the direction the board is heading with the training of our young people. We have been going away from the basics of reading writing and arithmetic, and the teaching of the children how to think for themselves, to telling children how to think and what to believe.”
He added that now more than ever, schools need to encourage the children to explore ideas and to come to common sense solutions rather than telling them what to believe, so they can think for themselves.
“Along with the slogan ‘Success for every Student in every school’, the children need to be able to do math in their heads without a calculator,” he said, giving an example from an experience he had in a store.
He paid for a purchase and the cashier handed his change back with $5 more than he should have received. “I tried to give it back, but the cashier insisted they had it right. So I left with the $5 more than I should have, and that business is now $5 short,” said Weber.
He also pointed out that reading is very important, and said, “I know of one young person that lives here in Weyburn who, having come through the school system, can barely read. When he goes to a restaurant he orders the same thing all the time because he can’t read the menu.
“Instead of pushing the kids through the grades without them having the skills the need, let’s get back to basics and give the children a solid base to build their lives on.”
Weber said the second reason he is running for school board trustee is to try to get the board to be more open and transparent with the people who voted them in.
“The school district is 20 some lower in staff from teachers and teachers aides, etc., in our school district they say because of provincial cutbacks. Could the reason be they have taken over all the school district bus routes and having to fill in the need by buying many more buses? Does it make sense to do this when they can’t find enough drivers for the routes they do have?” Weber asked.
He noted a news story just before Christmas saying the school board paid out $85,000 from September until Christmas to parents to drive their own children/ teens to school, but he’s never seen an amount paid out from Christmas until the end of June.
“So let’s be honest with you the voters. The voters need to get involved in school board elections because their decisions will affect our communities for years to come,” said Weber.
He and his wife Gail have lived in Weyburn and area since 1983 and raised their family here, and their children attended school in Weyburn.
Weber has been involved in a number of boards in the city, including serving as one of the founding members, serving for the past 30 years and present board chair of the Weyburn Youth Centre; a board member of the Trossachs Gospel Camp for 23 years; Souris Moose Mountain Riding Association for 17 years; Community Low Income board for 18 years, plus he pastored Weyburn Gospel Assembly for 10 years.
He has worked for SECSD for 15 years, and said, “I would be open to listening to your concerns and bringing your concerns to the board, hopefully getting the board to being more transparent to you the people.”
