By GREG NIKKEL, of the Weyburn Review
A meeting on the proposed integration of the Weyburn Comprehensive School and Southeast Regional College will determine if this project can proceed this year or not, depending on the costs to bring the Comp building up to proper codes.
All of the partners involved in the project, including the Comp, college, architects and officials from the Facilities Branch of Saskatchewan Education, met on April 23 in Regina review the project approvals and to determine what will and what won't be covered by the funding, said Ed Kolybaba, director of education.
A subsequent meeting with the partners was held in Weyburn on April 28 with fire Chief Denis Pilon and city building inspector Doug Mulhall, and they went over the basic concept plans for the integration project, along with what fire and building code requirements the city has.
"What's happened is the city and fire chief have taken our concept and will be getting together with us this Thursday to go over what their code requirements are. Perhaps after Thursday we'll know how things will come together and whether we have the funding to meet the code requirements," said Kolybaba.
Part of the puzzle is that the province has not indicated if they will cover any additional costs due to fire and building code requirements; they will be part of the meeting on Thursday, along with the Comp and college officials. Kolybaba said some of the partners' questions were answered at the April 23 meeting, but other questions were not answered. He made a presentation on where the project is at to the Comp board members in closed session after their monthly board meeting on Monday night.
No blueprints or building designs have been done as yet, added Kolybaba, as the parties don't know yet what they will be able to do with the funding they were given by the province.
"There's no point in putting in that kind of work without knowing if it can happen this year or not, plus there's an expense to having plans done," he said.
Comp board secretary-treasurer Gord Young, along with some board members, will be attending another meeting on Thursday morning on a separate issue related to obtaining a separate printout of the school's grant funding.
The meeting will be with Michael Littlewood of Saskatchewan Education, where the Comp board officials will put forward their case to receive a separate printout from the department on funding for the school; currently the funding information is lumped in with the grant information for Weyburn School Division No. 97, the public school division.
The issue isn't so much whether the school is a comprehensive school under Saskatchewan Education rules, but recognizing the board as a separate entity from the public school division. The Comp board is comprised of members from the public, separate and rural school divisions in the Weyburn area.
The Comp board was told Monday evening that vice-principal Shelley Rowein has tendered her resignation, effective June 30. She has accepted the position as principal of Riverview Collegiate in Moose Jaw for the next school term. The position in Moose Jaw came open when the principal, Liam Choo-Foo, was hired by the Weyburn Central School Division as the new Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.
The trustees approved a request from Len Williams to seek a second two-year term on the executive of the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association. Williams is just completing a two-year term, and the board was told he only misses four or five school days during the year in this capacity.
"I hope and believe my involvement in the SHSAA has been good for the school," said Williams in a letter to the board, noting he has helped to create a coaches' symposium put on by the association.
The board expressed support for a letter sent by the president of the Saskatchewan School Trustees Association, Debbie Ward, saying the province's taxpayers pay too large a share of the costs of education.
Ward repeated a request the SSTA made before the provincial budget came down, asking the province to increase their share of education funding by $90 million. She notes the province currently funds 40 per cent of the cost of K-12 education and local property taxes pay 60 per cent.
"The property tax base cannot be expected to bear the costs of education at today's level," said Ward.
"She makes some good points. She expressed how boards across the province feel when it comes to budgets," Kolybaba told the board meeting.
The Comp approved a request from a teacher, Wade Oberg, for compensation for items that damaged or stolen during a break-in at the Comp in late March. Oberg said a briefcase and gym bag were damaged, with the gym bag used to help carry two lab balances stolen in the break-and-enter.
Kolybaba said the Comp board has no policy regarding personal property damaged at school, although there is one for the public school division covering grades K-9. In reading that policy, however, he said it doesn't cover things that are damaged in a break-in. The compensation request for $130 was approved by the board.
No charges have been laid in the matter as yet, with city police saying the balances were likely taken for drug-related purposes.
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