WEYBURN - The South East Cornerstone Public School Division (SECPSD) held its first meeting of the school year on Sept. 15.
The Cyber Stone Virtual School, a key component of the SECPSD overall mandate, was engaged in a significant growth pattern over the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in interest in the virtual school’s offerings and an expansion that now includes all elementary grades as well as high school courses online delivered by SECPSD educators.
Lynn Little, director of education, noted that expanded programs are now being delivered across the division with additional program features and that there is now a common delivery station for staff members who are delivering these programs to students of all ages and grade levels.
Shelley Toth, chief financial officer, gave board members some updated information on mobile cellular devices that belong to the school division and who is entitled to use them. When asked who those users might be, she reported that the list was fairly extensive and included most administration personnel including principals.
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A motion to allow the Lord’s prayer to be delivered in specific schools was once again approved by the board with only one dissenting vote cast.
The motion, carried out within the provincial education authority allows the Gladmar Regional School, MacLeod Elementary School in Moosomin and Carievale School to recite the prayer on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, according to the school’s desire.
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The financial game of budgeting and final audits is approaching but Marilyn Yurkiw, SECPSD’s manager of finance, informed the board that early reporting indicated the division was well within budgeted figures, but there were a few areas where COVID induced activities or non-activities had skewered the prognostications.
In total, however, the current year’s revenues were anticipated to be just short of $115 million which would mean a 2.06 per cent increase from the budgeted intake, while total expenditures of about $111.5 million would leave the division with a $905,000 surplus on the operations side of the budget.
Some of these figures will still change, she said. In the meantime the auditing team will be attending near the end of this month to conduct their official tabulations.
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The next public meeting for the Cornerstone board will be held on the afternoon of Oct. 13 with the hopeful expectations that it can be a fully attended session in the head office conference room, following an in-camera morning session.
