Creighton could lose some of its educational autonomy after a government-commissioned report outlined options for reforming the schooling framework in Saskatchewan.
The report, released last month, recommends the province either create a single provincial school board, or reduce or realign existing school divisions.
While there is some ambiguity, all scenarios would or could potentially force the Creighton School Division (CSD) to merge with another division.
“We’re still lobbying to stay alone, but whether we’ll succeed or not I have no idea,” said Raymond Biberdorf, chairman of the CSD board of trustees.
“We’re in a little corner here all by ourselves, so I just can’t see [a merger] happening, but we don’t have the final say.”
While the new report aims to find efficiencies in the system, Biberdorf sees no savings attached to dissolving CSD. He said Northern Lights School Division, the division that is geographically closest to Creighton, is based four hours away in La Ronge.
“That’s a lot of windshield time with nothing being done,” he said, referring to the drive between the two communities.
Biberdorf also worries about the loss of local control over education should CSD have to merge.
“Certainly that’s why we’re pushing [against a merger],” he said.
The government-commissioned report, written by long-time public servant Dan Perrins, lays out four options for the provincial government to consider.
Option 1 would mean the end of CSD – and all other divisions in Saskatchewan. This option calls for a consolidation of all 18 public boards of education into a single provincial board to manage all 606 public schools in Saskatchewan.
Option 2 would most certainly mean the demise of CSD, Saskatchewan’s third-smallest school division. This option would see Saskatchewan divided into four regions, each with its own school board. Boundaries would be established following consultation.
Option 3A would reduce the number of school divisions to a number between eight and 14. CSD could conceivably survive in this scenario.
While 3A calls for each division to have at least 5,000 students – far below Creighton’s 430 – it also makes exceptions for divisions whose geographic regions exceed 43,000 sq km.
Northern Lights School Division already covers a region much larger than that; however, if boundaries are redrawn, the existing footprints of divisions may not matter.
The final option, Option 3B, is perhaps the most vague. This option calls for division realignment that “will support local community needs and interests” and says “single-school school divisions,” such as Creighton, “could be considered.”
Under Option 3B, new boundaries for divisions would be determined by the provincial government following consultation.
Biberdorf said he and the Creighton school board plan to meet with Perrins, likely next week, and will make the case that CSD should remain its own entity.
He said trustees have been given no indication as to when the provincial government will make a decision on the future of school divisions.
Asked about potential division mergers last fall, Chris Hodges, a media relations consultant for Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education, said the province’s goal is to “provide the best quality of education for Saskatchewan’s students.”
Four options considered
Educational Governance Review Report, written by Dan Perrins, outlines four options for the Saskatchewan government to consider as it moves forward with potential changes to the education system:
Option 1: Shut down all 18 school boards in the province and create a single provincial board.
Creighton School Division survives: No
Option 2: Divide Saskatchewan into four regions, using boundaries to be drawn following consultation. Each region would have its own board.
Creighton School Division survives: Unlikely
Option 3A: Eliminate between four and 10 school divisions, leaving eight to 14 divisions across the province. Each division would have at least 5,000 students, except in cases where a division’s geographic region exceeds 43,000 sq km.
Creighton School Division survives: Conceivably
Option 3B: Realign existing school divisions to “support local community needs and interests.” Single-school divisions, such as Creighton, “could be considered.”
Creighton School Division survives: Conceivably
