The South East Cornerstone Public School Division will host a community open house meeting May 28 to discuss the future of the Estevan Comprehensive School.
Lynn Little, the director of education for the school division, said during the school board’s meeting on Wednesday that this meeting will provide the community with relevant information regarding the school’s condition and a review of its current situation, including its structure, as well as past and future capital projects that focus on the high school that currently caters to about 800 students and 55 teachers, plus several dozen more support personnel.
“This will be an open meeting for everyone in the community and nearby,” said board chairwoman Audrey Trombley.
“Local organizations are invited to attend, to send representatives as are all members of the community” said Little.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the school’s cafetorium, and will allow participants ample opportunity to provide opinions regarding the future directions the community and the school division can take with the 50-year-old facility.
According to a news release from the school division, the school’s current status indicates there is some significant unused space within the school that was originally designed and built to accommodate up to 1,200 students. The additional space had been used for several years to house the Estevan campus of the Southeast College but when the college built a new campus around 2012, that left additional space that has not been fully utilized.
The school has also been plagued by continual roofing issues over the past number of years, but is considered to be an architectural benefit for the community with its unique courtyard concept.
Participants at the meeting will be invited to provide their thoughts on the future of the school, probably through open discussions and breakout groups.
A special board committee consisting of Estevan trustees Jim Vermeersch, Shari Sutter and Subdivision 4 trustee Kevin Keating, was struck earlier this year and it is expected they will be gathering the relevant information from this open community session to later provide a list of recommendations that can be taken back to the full board for future considerations and decisions.
