The South East Cornerstone Public School Board has finished its school review process, and has opted not to consider closing any schools during this school year.
The board voted 8-1 to not review any school closures. Macoun School, Pangman School and Wapella School were cited as falling below the Ministry of Education's criteria, but all were spared the school review process.
The board considered discontinuing Grades 9 to 12 at Pangman School last year, but ultimately opted for the status quo in Pangman.
Board members cited the need to review attendance areas and transportation policies as a reason to not embark on a school review process in 2012-13.
The review process provides a comparative report between the board's policy on viable schools, and the current enrolment of each school within the division.
The Ministry of Education's four-point criteria for a school review is:
*The distance between the school under review and the nearest potential receiving school for Kindergarten to Grade 8 students is less than 40 kilometres, based on the shortest route by regularly maintained roads;
*At least 90 per cent of Kindergarten to Grade 8 students live within 75 minutes of the nearest school if traveling by motor vehicle under normal driving conditions;
*The board of education arranges for alternative transportation that minimizes the transportation time for those pupils who live more than 75 minutes from the nearest school, and pays for this transportation;
*Projected enrollment in the school(s) under review for the next school year is expected to be lower than certain requirements. Macoun is a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school, and while it has a sufficient number of students for Kindergarten to Grade 7, its enrolment of 50 students for 2012-13 fell below the Ministry of Education's criteria of 51 students for a K-8 school.
Lyndale School in Oungre also fell behind the Ministry of Education's criteria, as the K-9 school has 27 students this year, compared to the ministry's criteria of 58, but Lyndale's distance from the nearest schools is more than 40 kilometres.
