Students at the Weyburn Comprehensive School will soon get used to regularly seeing a police officer in their hallways, as the police liaison program takes full effect this year with Const. Rod Stafford as the assigned officer.

A different version of the program is taking effect in the school and in Weyburn School Division No. 97 this fall, including a prevention course to be taught by two police officers to grades 5 and 6, members of the Comp board heard at their meeting the evening of Sept. 7.

The course fits in well with the public school board's health curriculum, said Jan Chell, education director. "The constable will teach 18 lessons to Grade 5 and 18 lessons to Grade 6. It talks about preventative measures on drug and alcohol abuse, issues on self-esteem and social skills. They take training in teaching this program, and the classroom teacher would be present to support it."

Const. Stafford attended an SRC meeting, and was introduced to the student body as a staff member at the school's first assembly on Sept. 7, said Comp principal Ken Larson. Both Larson and the constable are looking into different ways the officer can become involved in the school, and Stafford is researching what police liaison officers do in other schools around the province.

Board member Tim Wagner, who is a member of the Weyburn Police Service, said this arrangement will work much better for the police department, and that this will be a good program for the schools to have.

The program will be deemed a success for improving relations between the police department and teens if the sight of a police car in front of the school is a normal sight, not an unusual one denoting an investigation of some kind, said Larson, adding, "It's a big move, it should've been done 10 years ago."
Performing arts society

The Comp board also had a discussion with Ray Hamm, representing the Performing Arts Centre Society, over the operating agreement between the society and the school board. Hamm brought up that some changes to the proposed operating arrangements were needed due to unusual stipulations being given them by Revenue Canada.

Hamm's subcommittee researched other facilities that are run in conjunction with schools, and found that a good operating agreement is a critical element to a good relationship between the centre society and the host school board.

The original scenario for ownership of the centre has had to be changed, however, mostly due to the regulations of Revenue Canada, said Hamm. The society originally envisioned the centre owned and run by a management committee, with the society serving as the fund-raising arm. The problem is both the society and the management committee would each need to have a tax number with Revenue Canada; also, the society cannot own the building and also raise funds for it, a regulation that left society members puzzled.

"It used to be fairly simple to get a tax number, but they seem to be tightening up on things. When we submitted our application, we were told we couldn't own the building we were collecting for - does that make any sense? What would make it easiest for us is if we collect the money and give it as a gift to the school board (who owns the centre)," said Hamm.

Time is important to the society right now in this matter, he added, as they would like to be able to issue tax-deductible receipts at the upcoming fund-raising Thanksgiving supper and concert with the Barra MacNeils.

After discussing the issue in closed session following the meeting, the board has decided they need to obtain more information about the various issues involved, and try to find the best way for the society to get a tax number.

On the issue of ownership of the centre, said Chell, the board wants to clear up any legal questions before committing the board to owning a facility like this.

"The board indicated they want to support the initiative, but they want to make sure they do things correctly. The support is there, it's just fine-tuning the details that needs to be accomplished," she said.
Renovations underway

The extensive renovations throughout the Comp building, underway to prepare it for the integration of Southeast Regional College a year from now, have had good progress in some areas, trustees were told, but have hit some problems from a bureaucrat in the Department of Education.

Renovations on preparing some of the classrooms began on Aug. 9 and are nearly complete in some of them. Some unexpected cost overruns developed along the way, said secretary-treasurer Gord Young, such as when a wall slated for removal was found to be a bearing wall, and in another room, the ceiling was not supported correctly.

In the former drafting lab, two large classrooms are being renovated to make three smaller classrooms and is nearly complete, while in the foods lab area the contractor has run into problems trying to take the carpet out.

Altogether the change orders have totalled about $15,000, which are guaranteed to be covered under the board's agreement with the provincial government, said Young. The problem has arose as a department bureaucrat began questioning every detail of each change order, even though he was given a two-hour tour by Young and Chell of the areas under renovation, and raised no questions at that time.

"We're going to go a step higher, because we're not going to be stuck with anything," said Young. "The government has to trust our judgment."

Another problem has arose in the shop area, principal Ken Larson told the trustees, as gas piping and electrical work is behind schedule. For SIAST welding students, this has meant they are taking the theory portion of their course at Southeast Regional College right now, but for the Comp students, they are wanting to get into the shop to work, said Larson.

The major part of the project is the gas piping, which was apparently not done right by the first contractor, and now has to be completely redone, explained Larson.

There will be some inconvenience and smell for students and teachers in certain areas of the school as well, said the principal, as the roofing crews began their work on the roof over the B and A hallways, eventually to reach G hallway.

The architect for this project was caught off-guard by the late start by the contractors, said Young, as he had expected the roof work would have started over the summer as soon as the tender was awarded, but the roofers had other work at the time. The B hallway has been closed off for the time being until the roofers are done their work.

The Comp board received some bad news from the education director, who informed them their Alternate Education program was rejected for grant funding this year from the Associated Entities Fund.

The program has allowed students to obtain a high school education through Southeast Regional College. The Comp still has some funds available to it which will enable the program to go this year, said Young, but its future is unknown if grant funding is not restored.

The grant fund administrator will be asked to provide information or a reason why the grant is not available this year, said Chell, as the program is a worthwhile that should be continued if possible.