On March 20, the Family Place was informed of a decision made by Southeast Cornerstone School Division and Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division, that "Effective May 31, 2008, the school divisions will cease the provision of funding to operate Mini Go School for designated high need,, vulnerable and special needs children aged three to five years."

"We were caught off-guard by this announcement, as we didn't see it coming, so the board of directors for Family Place does not have any firm plans for the future yet," said chair of the Family Place board, Clark Gordon. "There is a lot of money involved in any program of this nature, so we have to choose the decision that is best for the Family Place and keep the Family Place going."

"We were broadsided by this news, as from this we have lost all of our government funding," said Linda Rudachyk, manager of the Family Place. "But this is not the end of the road, and as an organization we will continue to keep doing what we do best and continue to provide programs for families in Weyburn."

"I don't think that the school divisions provided the Family Place with enough information to justify pulling funding from the Mini Go School," said MLA for Weyburn-Big Muddy, Dustin Duncan.

Duncan, who also sits on the Family Place board, said that there are three questions he would like answered by the school divisions: "Will more children have access to the services provided by the school divisions? Will the school divisions be able to provide more hours and the same quality of education? Can they say that the kids with special needs will be better served by the school divisions?"

The Family Place created Mini Go School in 1999 in partnership with the community of Weyburn. In 2000, the school divisions and Sask. Learning entered into a relationship to provide partial funding, and to offer various valuable supports.

Mini Go School has been touted as a model throughout Saskatchewan and other provinces of true excellence, and especially due to key components of family engagement and community support. At present Mini Go School has an enrollment of 26 children and Tiny Go School (for two year olds) has an enrollment of 20. The removal of funding does affect Tiny Go School, as normally these students would advance into Mini Go School. It is unknown if the spaces which the school divisions plan to create will be sufficient for all these children, said Rudachyk.

In the recent budget, Weyburn was recognized as a community in need of a universally funded Pre-K school program. The school divisions acknowledged the work of The Family Place and the support of the community to offer Mini Go School for eight years, but the school divisions informed The Family Place Board of Directors that they will assume responsibility for Pre-K for designated children and will create these programs in one school per division. The school divisions are in the process of meeting with partners, and following the meeting more information on these programs will be made available.

"Ultimately our commitment is to the children and to ensure their best interest, so we will help with the transition period as much as possible," said Gordon. "It would have been nice to see a plan from the school divisions, but we have done all we can do as a board in this situation."

"The school divisions want a transition plan from The Family Place, however they have not provided us (the board) with any information to make that plan," said Duncan. "As MLA, I will continue to address this issue with our government and talk to ministers to get more funding and recognition for the Mini Go program. There has been no indication that the school divisions were unhappy with the Mini Go program and I think that they will find out that there was a reason why the people of Weyburn have given so generously to the Family Place."

The Family Place held a parents meeting last night to inform parents on the removal of funding to the Mini Go School.