School board trustees from around the province have voiced similar concerns over the options presented in the Perrins Report to Education Minister Don Morgan. 

The reoccurring theme from many different school boards are the concerns shared over the possibility of board members being appointed rather than elected, as they are under the current governance model. The last time the education governance model was tweaked in the province, most educators agree it took about 5 years to fully iron out all the wrinkles of the changes, before being able to focus on young peoples education again. The student population is about 176,000 and the province employs about 11,700 teachers. 

Two of the options involve redrawing school division boundaries, looking at populations, community needs and traffic patterns.

That could mean consolidating the current 18 public school divisions into between eight and 14, with a balanced number of students in each. There would be a minimum of 5,000 students in a division smaller than 43,000 square kilometers. 

Dr. Guy Tetrault, CEO of the Sun West school division, has other concerns, like what would happen to the school division's brand new Distance Learning Center in Kenaston and the vast number of students that work with the DLC to achieve their goals? What would happen to the Personalized Electronically Blended Learning system the school division has been working on for a few years now, and has amassed national awards for innovation? 

The provincial panel was taking feedback from the general public on the report until this past Monday, January 23rd. 

Dr. Tetrault discusses what happens next. 

To read the full official statement from the Sun West school division, click here.

To read the full Perrins Report, click here.