Residents of Oungre and area made an impassioned plea on Wednesday night to the board of trustees of the Southeast Cornerstone School Division not to cut the high school, Grades 10-12, from Lyndale School in the next school year.

The meeting of the community was called by Lyndale's School Community Council, and the entire board of trustees were present, along the top division administrators, with a total of 137 residents of the area who signed in at the door prior to the meeting.

Lyndale School had had an electors' meeting in February, where the proposal to discontinue the high school grades was explained by education director Don Rempel. Feb. 15 to May 15 was set as the consideration period, during which the board will receive any and all submissions and information from the school community council, and area residents, about why those grades should be kept intact.

On May 15, the Cornerstone board will make their decision; if they decide to discontinue the grades, they will indicate if that will take place this year or in a future school year, and the board will have until Aug. 15 to decide what needs to take place to accommodate their decision.

After some written submissions were read to the board, various members of the Lyndale area spoke, from a Grade 10 student to parents to past graduates of the school, to community members, all pleading that the school is a vital part of the community, and the community's remoteness from larger centres should be a major consideration before any decision is made.

Board chair Audrey Trombley reassured residents several times that the board has not yet made up its mind, and needed any and all submissions as part of their decision, including if current students and parents are satisfied with the quality of education at Lyndale School.

In his statement, Grade 10 student Kyle Ashworth asked the board members if any of them have children, and if so, how many would want their kids on a bus three hours a day or more?

"How are kids supposed to help out on the farm if they're not there? If I get home at 5 or later, how am I supposed to help out?" asked Ashworth, adding he might have to quit sports because his parents won't be able to drive him everyday to after-school sporting events in Weyburn.

He ended by asking the question, "Who's going to want to live out here without a school? It will mean the end of the community," adding this would be putting a price on education that people weren't willing to pay.

Glen Walkeden, chairman of the School Community Council, noted to the board that Lyndale brings in $210,868 over and above their regular school grants in recognition of their remote location, and size. In total, including its tax base and the cost of operating the small school, the school brings in $732,900 to the school division over and above the approximate cost to operate the school, which is estimated to be $10,700 per student (at 53 students, this totals $567,100).

Anne Favro of the Torquay-Tribune Credit Union, said based on Oungre's distance from Weyburn or Estevan, and the fact children would have to be picked up in the rural areas first, it was estimated a child riding a bus to Weyburn would have on average a nine-hour day, or 45 hours a week. "By labour standards, that's not acceptable, so why is it acceptable for our children?"

Going into traffic statistics, she pointed out most traffic deaths in this province occur on rural roads, and to force the high school children onto the highways for extended periods would be putting them at risk.

Walkeden also pointed out that with the increased growth and prosperity in the province, Lyndale School has grown by 20 per cent just in this last year alone. He explained if the board was concerned about the graduating class only having eight students, he said at this rate it won't take long for the school to return to a more viable number of graduates, maybe as high as 20 within three or four years.

Reeve Dallas Peterson of the RM of Souris Valley noted that years ago the small one-room schools were closed in favour of consolidating the students into larger schools, including Lyndale at Oungre.

"Who ever thought this day would come where discontinuing the high school would ever happen? I think what we're asking you is to step back. There's going to be new money pumped into education; take a step back and look at what's happening with gas and oil. Right now we just ask you to step back and take a look at it," he said.

Area resident Cathy Daae said if the high school grades are cut, the churches and businesses will all suffer in the area, and added, "I just know the kids will not be as stable as they were when they had this wonderful place to come home to."

Walkeden said one of the questions the school community council wanted answered was why the motion to discontinue the high school grades was made, and why it was unanimous in the vote, unlike any other motion for closure. Residents also questioned why it was their own area trustee, Bruce Wagner, who made that motion.

Wagner said he was uncomfortable answering the question, so board vice-chair Carol Flynn answered, saying partly they wanted the motion made to give them an opportunity to make a full investigation of the school and to give the board the opportunity to all travel down to it and see it and hear from the community.

"We want to know how you feel about the delivery of education. Are there things we can do as a board to help you? We want you not to be at risk, but a school we can be proud of," Flynn said.

Resident Diane Chapman stood up and said she graduated from the school some 30 years ago, and her daughter graduated about eight years ago, and is now a social worker in Weyburn.

Noting that at times students can be storm-stayed even at Lyndale, she wondered what would happen if some of the students had to travel all the way to Weyburn for school in such a circumstance?

Council member Kim Ordahl noted the area was going to attract more new residents to the area, and therefore need time to allow for some of that growth to occur. She said they have a new web page up at www.movetosask.ca, to help promote the area, and the availability of lots there.

A resident who drives school bus, Regina Forrester, commented, "You people sit in Weyburn and can't make up your minds about whether to run, and I can't see the garage in my yard. It's not going to work. We have to take into account it's a small school; we live in a small community. We consider these kids to be all our kids. To sit down and start separating families, you're going to start splitting them. That is a punishment because of where we live, and it's not fair."

Resident Wayne Daae had one of the final comments, which was greeted by applause from the audience, as he told the board, "It's a little scary to me that the fate of our community lies in your hands. I'm not saying that to put you down, but you don't have a vested interest in what we have here. It's our community and our lives and it's in your hands. I'd ask you to consider that."

The board asked for residents to send in any information or comments to them before May 15, when the decision will be made, taking all the information into consideration.