The chair of the South Central Public School Division said Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline acknowledged the possibility of higher property taxes on the oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan if the province's proposal for school division amalgamation goes ahead.

Cline said the possibility of higher taxes on the industry "is a concern," said Audrey Trombley.

She was reporting to South Central trustees at their regular monthly meeting on Nov. 3 about the private, Nov. 2 meeting held with the minister. The private meetings with local officials were part of the provincial cabinet tour to Weyburn last week.

Some rural school trustees are speculating that the oil and gas industry will be hit with a higher property tax rate than other industries in southeast to make up for the loss of provincial operating grants to the proposed new school division.

The government's proposed amalgamation would create one new public school division stretching from the U.S. border to Yellow Grass and Ogema, and east to the Manitoba border, with a projected loss of $7 million annually in provincial operating grants. Those lost provincial dollars would have to be made up by local taxpayers. Some rural municipalities could set a higher rate for the oil and gas industry than for other industries within their boundaries.

During the board meeting, trustees also met with provincial education director Tom Chell to discuss the implementation of the SchoolPlus model. This is the evaluating, assessing and reporting on the implementation in each school by teams set up for that purpose, said Trombley on Thursday.

"Any good program should be monitored regularly," she said. The board wants to make sure it is getting the best value out of the program, she said.

The board asked Chell to arrange a meeting between the board and Learning Minister Andrew Thomson to discuss the proposed new map for public school divisions.

The board adopted a resolution to ask the Saskatchewan School Boards Association to establish a rural caucus to deal with rural issues.

The former chair and vice-chair of South Central were re-appointed for another year.

Trombley continues as chair, with Elaine Morissette returning as vice-chair.