The annual report for the Southeast Cornerstone School Division for the 2018-19 school year was passed by the board of trustees, and has been filed with the provincial Ministry of Education, providing a snapshot view of the school division’s year.
Cornerstone had a total enrolment of 8,162 students, including 386 First Nations and Metis, 25 French immersion students and 478 English as an Additional Language.
The school division had a total of 1,027.3 full-time equivalent staff, which includes 475.99 FTE teachers, 31.01 principals and vice-principals, 287 other educational staff (such as EAs, school community coordinators and speech language pathologists), 86 staff in plant operations and maintenance, and 124.5 in transportation, with six directors and superintendents.
Infrastructure projects, other than the new elementary school under construction in Weyburn, included major roof replacement and structural repairs to the Estevan Comp at a total cost of $890,000, replacement of a boiler and air handling unit at Ogema at a cost of $530,000, and roof replacement and HVAC upgrades at Rocanville at a total cost of $600,000.
The school division transported 3,292 students by bus an average of 17,789 km a day on 113 routes, and contracted buses transported 853 students an average of 7,974 km a day on 43 routes. The grand total is 4,145 students transported 4,740,396 km in the school year, including rural students for the Holy Family School Division in the catchment area for Weyburn and Estevan.
Grants totaling $103,481,537 comprised 94 per cent of the revenues for Cornerstone, with a grand total of $111,825,939, and salaries and benefits for teachers took 65 per cent of the expenses, with school facilities taking 16 per cent and buses 10 per cent. Expenses totaled $106,065,409, for a surplus of $5,760,530.
Looking at academic results, Grade 3 reading in Cornerstone saw 76.5 per cent of students at or above their grade level, up from 74.5 per cent the year before, and above the provincial average of 75 per cent.
In writing, Grade 4 students were 67.7 per cent at or above their grade level, which is a drop from 74.9 per cent the year but above the provincial average; Grade 7 results were 71.2 per cent at or above their grade level, which was constant with the year before, and Grade 9 results were 76.8 per cent, which is up 3.7 per cent from the year before.
In math, 69 per cent of Cornerstone students were at or above their grade levels, compared to the provincial average of 71.9 per cent. In Grade 5, 67.8 per cent of students were at or above their grade level, and in Grade 8, 66 per cent of students were at or above their grade level.
Attendance in Grades 10-12 saw 84 per cent students attending 80 per cent of their classes or more in 2018-19, while First Nations and Metis students attended 69 per cent of their classes 80 per cent of the time or more.
On-time graduation rates (which is students graduating within three years of starting Grade 10) saw 91 per cent of students graduating, above the provincial target of 90 per cent, while First Nations and Metis students had an on-time grad rate of 71 per cent, which is a significant improvement. With an extended time for graduation, 93 per cent of Cornerstone students graduated, and 74 per cent of First Nations and Metis students.
