Discussions have begun on the possibility of developing a technology learning centre as the Weyburn Comprehensive School prepares for Southeast Regional College to move in next February.

The official moving days for the college to move into the first phase of the renovated areas of the high school has been set for Feb. 10 and 11, principal Ken Larson told the Comp board of trustees on Monday night.

Research is being done on the feasibility of setting up a technology learning centre in conjunction with the combined Comp-college facility, said education director Jan Chell, an idea that is only in the discussion stage right now.

The research is being carried by the former director of education, Ed Kolybaba, who is on contract as a consultant for the regional college.

"If it happens, the technology centre would be the cutting edge of technology, and would be a place where people could come and learn. It would be a learning-resource centre, a research centre, and a support to the learning institutions in the Weyburn area," said Chell, adding it would be available for the public as well.

Resident experts would be available on site, according to the proposal being discussed by a committee of school division representatives. A meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 20, where the decision will be made whether or not to pursue this centre.

Some of the research has turned up the possibility of funding for a centre or for a feasibility study for such a centre, said Chell.

"This idea was initiated with the college. Along with the thinking that the Comp and college will be here in the same building and the need for constant upgrading, it was felt this might serve that dual purpose," she said.

The moving date was set to allow two weeks for the Comp and college to adjust their classrooms, move blackboards and finalize the schools' setup, and includes work that can be done during the one-week February break. Larson said the Comp will be completely out the area where the regional college will be moving into by Feb. 18.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the renovations has been completed, and the school is awaiting the provision of the engineers' completion certificate in order to get the funding for the work from Saskatchewan Education, said secretary-treasurer Gord Young.

"There will be some extra costs for the first phase. We have been assured any extra costs will be picked up by the department," said Young, adding a meeting will be held in Regina on Tuesday morning to provide Education officials with the final numbers.

Bills have already started coming in on the second phase, he said. "The money will have to be disbursed by the department. We're not going to be involved in the financing of that, we can't afford it."

Principal Larson and vice-principal Wade Oberg attended a provincial administrators meeting for comprehensive schools, and a number of concerns were aired there, including the definition of comprehensive schools.

Larson said the schools are interested in maintaining one of the hallmarks of their institutions, namely offering the practical and applied arts courses most other smaller schools aren't able to offer. These include welding and industrial arts shops, cosmetology lab and home economics courses.

Many smaller high schools have found it necessary to partner with the community in order to offer a course like welding, said Larson, but this would be impractical for a comp school to do.

"We in comprehensives don't want to do that, because we're set up to offer it in our buildings, so there's a bit of an abrasive situation with the department. None of us can ship our students to the community for education. Can you imagine if I shipped 50 students out there for welding?," said Larson.

The administrators also struggled with the definition of comprehensive, added the principal, noting the province seems to want to tighten up on which schools can qualify for this definition for funding purposes. He said the number of comprehensive schools in the province has declined from 17 to 14, as some schools were disqualified from this classification, including Regina's Campbell Collegiate.

"Many of the comprehensives are in small urban centres, and are the beacons of education for the areas around them," said Larson, adding his own definition of comprehensive is a simple one: the school can take anyone who comes in off the street and educate them, whether they're a special needs student, in alternative education or an advanced program.

The resource police officer, Const. Rod Stafford, has begun doing classes at the Comp, including a recent noon-hour session about the Internet, covering safety and security issues. Const. Stafford is working with resource teacher Glenda Shupe and the computer resource teachers to develop an Internet ethics program, one which should be offered in elementary school, said Larson.

"I feel this is an area that needs to be hit hard. You'd be surprised how conversant students in grades 5 and 6 are on the computer. Some come in here knowing more than some of our staff do. We're actually a little late, this should be offered in Grade 4," said Larson, suggesting this would be a good topic for the parents conference being organized for next spring.

Upcoming Christmas-related events at the Comp include the band and choral concert tonight, Dec. 8, in the Cafetorium starting at 7:30 p.m. The students will have a semi-formal Christmas dance on Friday, Dec. 17, and the student Christmas assembly will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. A room-decorating contest is also being held within the school by the students.