Creighton and Denare Beach residents who support local control of education are urged to make their voices heard.
Creighton school board chairman Raymond Biberdorf is encouraging residents to provide feedback to a provincial review of how to reduce the number of school divisions in Saskatchewan.
Biberdorf said maintaining Creighton School Division (CSD) as a standalone entity would best serve students and the community.
“I think it’s for the betterment of the students because they have local autonomy here,” he said. “If there’s a problem, we can deal with it immediately.”
Biberdorf said CSD is the lowest-cost school division in Saskatchewan – its annual budget is $6.7 million – and that travel time involved in any potential amalgamation with another division makes the idea seem unworkable.
Blaine Veitch, director of education for CSD, said that under the current system, resources can be assigned to local priorities.
“We have good student success. We’re a successful school,” he added, referring to Creighton Community School, the lone school under CSD jurisdiction.
Biberdorf is encouraging residents to fill out an online government survey related to potential division reductions.
Monday is the deadline for responses. A link to the survey is available on the home page of the Creighton Community School website (Creightonschool.com).
Biberdorf also urges residents to contact the offices of Education Minister Don Morgan and Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette.
Indications are the Saskatchewan government will decide the future of divisions in March, Biberdorf said.
While the province is ostensibly considering four options for divisions – all of which would or could spell the end of CSD – Veitch said it’s also possible the province will maintain the status quo.
CSD officials recently met with a provincial panel formed to gather feedback from divisions. Biberdorf and his colleagues made the case for a standalone CSD.
Proponents of division amalgamations believe the measure could save money without impacting the quality of education for students.
