The Sunrise School Division No. 145 board of trustees passed a motion Friday to begin negotiations for the transfer of Lang, Milestone and Riceton schools to Thunder Creek Division No. 78.

The motion, which several trustees voted against, was made after a delegation of parents and taxpayers from the three communities made a presentation to the board at their monthly meeting.

This presentation was a follow-up to a letter, sent to Sunrise and dated Feb. 8, from the local school boards of Milestone, Riceton and Lang. The letter asked for the transfer of all three communities to Thunder Creek, preferably by June 30 of this year.

Members of the delegation echoed that desire, asking the Sunrise board to "do the right thing" and begin negotiations with Thunder Creek for the transfer.

"I want your board to understand in no uncertain terms that our communities are committed to transferring to Thunder Creek School Division, if not with your agreement, then by whatever legal means necessary," said Rick Renwick.

The members of the delegation repeatedly referred to an informal poll conducted in all three communities last year. In the poll, 99 per cent of respondents in Milestone and Riceton, and 76 per cent in Lang, said they preferred to switch to Thunder Creek.

It should be noted this poll had no legal binding and the number of ballots counted in this poll is not known.

Thunder Creek is a rural school division based out of Moose Jaw, encompassing Avonlea, Briercrest, Caronport, Lindale (Moose Jaw), Mortlach and Rouleau.

Their status as a rural school division was one of the main reasons for the transfer. While they were not refuting the quality of education offered by Sunrise School Division, the presenters said a rural school division would be a better fit for them.

"We're not saying one is better than the other," said Stacey Ulrich and Karen McKim.

However, several members of the delegation stated they felt wronged by the process by which Prairie View School Division, the division formerly representing the three communities, amalgamated with Weyburn School Division No. 97 to form Sunrise.

Several presenters said the process was flawed from the outset and that ratepayers in Lang, Milestone and Riceton were not given enough input on the process.

"This is about right and wrong. We've been done a serious wrong and you people can make it right. We know what the people want. We need to get it done. We are not going to go away," said Mark Andrews.

Talk of going with Thunder Creek has been around since last year, according Avril McCready-Wirth, chair of the Milestone district board, who was not present at Friday's meeting.

Though amalgamation has been discussed in meetings as early as January 2003, she said a meeting was held in Milestone in late September with both Weyburn School and Thunder Creek School Division representatives in attendance.

McCready-Wirth said the September meeting was held to find out more information about both divisions.

Regarding the motion made by Sunrise, she said, "We were very pleased with the results that Sunrise listened to the people."

This is not the first time former Prairie View schools have desired transfer to Thunder Creek; in August of 2003, Avonlea, formerly a member of Prairie View, officially came under the jurisdiction of the Moose Jaw-based rural division.

Jan Chell, the director of education for Sunrise School Division, was unavailable for comment. School division policy requires the director to speak to the media on board issues.