The South East Cornerstone School Division is "not anticipating any good news," from the Provincial Budget, to be released Thursday, Mar. 22, said board chair Audrey Trombley during the monthly meeting on Thursday.

Representatives from Cornerstone, along with representatives from Chinook and Prairie South School Divisions, met with the Deputy Minister of Learning to discuss the situation where across the south of the province the mill rates are higher than the rest of the school divisions in Saskatchewan. "We were told that rural divisions were not going to get any less, but we are also not going to get any more," stated Trombley.

However, urban school divisions might be getting more money come budget time, "which will increase the disparity between the mill rates between urban school divisions and rural school divisions," said Trombley.

"I am not sure we achieved a lot," Trombley commented to the board regarding the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Learning, empathizing that a lot of the rural school divisions' challenges are based on low enrollments.

The challenge of teaching Kindergarten to Grade 12 students in rural Saskatchewan was one that members of the Cornerstone school board presented to an audience at the SARM convention earlier last week.

The board of education discussed the process of staffing schools for the fall of 2007. Board member Garry Hammett reported on a recent meeting with the Lampman School Community Council he attended at which planning for next year was discussed, as there was some concerns addressed since Lampman may have to cut teachers for next year.

Director of Education, Don Rempel, reviewed with the board the previously approved principles and procedures for staffing. The enrollment-based staffing formula assigns one teacher for every 21.75 students, plus a special education teacher allocation to each school. Further, administrative release time is provided to principals/vice-principals and there is an additional 10 per cent unassigned time for each teacher to provide for preparation time and/or additional teacher time.

Additional staffing is included over and above the formula to support those schools with small enrollments. Overall school staffing is allocated within a system wide pupil to teacher ration (PTR) of 16:1. Additional support for intensive student needs will lower the PTR to just over 15:1.

Members of the Cornerstone School Division met with representatives from the Holy Family School Division on Mar. 20 to discuss the Comprehensive School Board Governance, as the two school divisions share tuition agreements with the Weyburn Comprehensive School, the Estevan Comprehensive School and the Radville High School.