Several issues were discussed during the South East Cornerstone Board of Education's Organizational Meeting on November 18.
The positions of Board chair and vice-chair were voted on through an internal election by trustees. Carol Flynn was re-elected unanimously as the Board chair, while Pam Currie was re-elected unanimously as the Board vice-chair. These two trustees will serve in these positions during the 2010-11 school year.
Trustees were also appointed to work on the following committees for the next school year: Comprehensive School Governance Authority: Len Williams, Audrey Trombley, Bryan Wilson, Pam Currie and Janet Foord; Audit Committee: Audrey Trombley, Janet Foord and Pam Currie; Board Budget Manager: Audrey Trombley; Public Boards Section: Bryan Wilson; First Nations and Metis Committee: Carol Flynn, Harold Laich, Len Williams, Velda Weatherald and Marc Casavant; Website Committee: Bryan Wilson; and Weyburn Facilities Committee: Len Williams and Bryan Wilson.
South East Cornerstone School Division (SECSD) is one of the nominees for the 2010 Saskatchewan School Boards Association's (SSBA) Premier's Board of Education Award for Innovation and Excellence in Education. The school division submitted its nomination for Project Greenlight, a two-stage software program designed to harvest student learning information from every school in the division and allow teachers and administrators to monitor student learning over time.
Regardless of the outcome of the award, to be handed out during the SSBA's General Assembly in Saskatoon from November 29 to 30, Director of Education Dr. Marc Casavant explained South East Cornerstone is putting forward its best work being done in the division and demonstrating how the school division is second-to-none in the province in technological infrastructure.
The Board has instructed Casavant to work with the Lyndale School Community Council (SCC) to lobby the Ministry of Education to create some guidelines for staffing within designated schools of necessity. Lyndale is the only school of necessity in the division and recently had its staff reduced to two teachers due to a decrease in its student enrolment. A delegation of Lyndale SCC members had visited the Board at its October meeting and asked for assurances their school would not see any more staff reductions.
In working with the SCC to lobby the Ministry, Board members will speak with the Education Minister and the local MLAs about having them assist with creating guidelines for staffing levels within schools of necessity. Trustees would also like to know what the Ministry of Education sees as appropriate staffing levels and if it is prepared to fund schools of necessity despite falling student numbers at the school. The Board is still waiting to learn what the proposed funding formula for education will look like, which also could affect funding schools of necessity.
With a number of school roofs in need of immediate repair, an emergency B1 submission has been sent to the Ministry of Education. This submission will put SECSD's request near the top of the pile and fast track all repair work. The schools of Gordon F. Kells (Carlyle), Souris (Weyburn), Wawota and Rocanville need roof repairs.
In December, Board members will meet with the five MLAs whose constituencies are within the school division, along with the Minister of Education, to discuss issues important to the well-being of South East Cornerstone School Division. The meeting is set for Monday, December 13 in Regina. All five MLAs - Dustin Duncan, Doreen Eagles, Don Toth, Don McMorris and Dan D'Autremont - and the Minister of Education, Donna Harpauer, have been invited to attend the afternoon meeting.
