Amalgamation bad for rural areas: opposition

Canadian Press

Friday, May 14, 2004

The Opposition Saskatchewan Party says it's done the math on the government's amalgamation plans and it doesn't look good for rural areas.

On Thursday, the government announced that it will reduce the number of school divisions from 82 to no more than 40.

Education critic Don McMorris says there are some divisions which can't be amalgamated, like Catholic, French and urban divisions.

He says amalgamation will be bad for rural schools, suggesting it will create large, unwieldly divisions.

Education Minister Andrew Thomson says the opposition should wait and see what a task force studying amalgamation comes up with before jumping to any conclusions.