The South East Cornerstone Public School Division has announced the formation of a new committee to study the utilization of the Estevan Comprehensive School and the other schools in Estevan.
The Cornerstone board announced last month the creation of the new committee. Trustee representation will come from the two Estevan members of the board, Shari Sutter and Jim Vermeersch, as well as Kevin Keating, who represents the area east of Estevan.
Other members include director of education Lynn Little, deputy director of education Keith Keating, chief financial officer Shelley Toth and Andy Dobson, the division’s manager of facilities and transportation.
Little pointed out the members could change as they move further into their work.
The committee will make a recommendation to the board regarding the future delivery of education in Estevan. The committee will be studying all facilities including structure, program delivery, current capacity and projected enrollments.
In the case of ECS, it opened in 1969, and according to Little, it has never reached capacity.
“The capacity is for … just over 1,400 students, so with our current enrolment, they’re right around a 50 per cent utilization,” said Little.
The school is currently both aging and underutilized by about 50 per cent, Little said. At one point, the Southeast College’s Estevan campus was a tenant in the school, but it pulled out of ECS a few years ago.
The division utilizes some of the former college space for offices for support personnel who service the south area of the system.
“Some speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists and the superintendent for that area are all located in that former college space, so the space is being utilized, although not utilized for students,” said Little.
The bulk of the school is used at some point during the day, she said.
As for the other schools in Estevan, Hillcrest School is at 48 per cent utilization, Pleasantdale is 58 per cent, Westview is 69 per cent and Spruce Ridge is 85 per cent.
Little said it’s far too early in the process to speculate about the future of any schools.
The committee will also study the possibility of non-traditional partnerships. Many school facilities across the province have partnerships with a variety of services which are advantageous for students, service groups and the community at large.
Little cited several examples of non-traditional partners in the division, including the joint school and community library inside the Carnduff Education Complex, the additional small gymnasium in the Oxbow Prairie Horizons School, and several amenities in the Weyburn Comprehensive School, such as a day care, the Southeast College, and the Cugnet Performing Arts Centre.
Also, a new elementary school in Weyburn will include a field house through a partnership with the City of Weyburn.
“Each community is a little bit different in what they already have in the community, or what they may require in the community,” said Little.
Some general feedback was collected earlier this year through a thought exchange initiative. The school division reached out to all of the parents with children attending ECS or in the public schools in Estevan.
A total of 202 families participated.
“People put forward their ideas, and then the thoughts with the highest star ratings combined kind of rise to the top,” said Little.
Among the questions asked was what people valued the most for the education provided by the schools.
The highest rating was for a variety of classes and programming, including arts, practical programming and language. The use and access of technology, and the maintenance and upgrades of ECS were also near the top.
The facilities committee has not met. Their first meeting is expected to happen in late January.
The school division anticipates a recommendation near the end of the school year, although Little said that may be an optimistic timeline.
