When the Saskatchewan legislature resumes sitting March 10, school boards, communities, teachers and students will all be watching to see what the government has planned for them.
The government has said it wants all boards to consider postponing any school closures until funding and legislative decisions have been made.
Premier Brad Wall has written at least two letters on the issue.
“We are committed to making changes to rules allowing closures to happen,” he wrote in a letter to those concerned about the future of the Eyebrow School in the Prairie South School Division.
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“My government is committed to revising the Education Act to improve the consultation and assessment process prior to making significant changes to schools.”
At the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in early February, education minister Ken Krawetz told reporters that his ministry is working on the issues.
One possible change is a process to identify schools of necessity or opportunity, which could be kept open through extra funding. The budget is expected before the end of March.
School boards seem to be taking the new government at its word.
Prairie South has delayed a decision on Eyebrow School’s future until May.
Chinook School Division in February agreed to postpone reviews of the schools at Morse and Abbey.
The future of Richmound and Climax schools is less certain. Both were slated for closure last year but were given a one-year extension to prove they could remain viable.
As well, enrolments at Hodgeville, Vanguard and Burstall schools are low enough that the division has asked the school councils to prepare for a review.
South East Cornerstone School Division last year held off on closing any schools.
In January, it advised four communities that their schools are under consideration for change. Frobisher School and Glenn McGuire School in Oxbow could be closed, while Grade 9 at Weldon School in Bienfait and Grades 10 through 12 at Lyndale School in Oungre could be discontinued. A decision is not expected until mid-May.
The Good Spirit division was to receive reports on the viability of Calder and Grayson schools in January. It has delayed that until October, saying the current economic environment has had a positive impact on enrolment.
“The newly elected provincial government has indicated that they are contemplating changes to the funding of small, remote schools and the processes that must be followed when boards of education are considering school closures,” the division said in a release.
“The board of education for the Good Spirit School Division felt it was necessary to delay the receipt of the viability reports until the position of the government has been clearly defined.”
In 2007, 20 schools, mostly rural, closed in Saskatchewan and others saw grades discontinued. Three were given a reprieve until this year.
