Sask. government launches review of K-12 school system

The government is launching a review of how Saskatchewan's kindergarten to Grade 12 school system is run.

Education Minister Don Morgan says everything is still on the table, as he has said since the government began talking about "transformational change" earlier this spring. That includes fewer school boards and appointed, rather than elected, trustees.

• Opposition party asks for clarity on education changes

Morgan has appointed a longtime civil servant in Saskatchewan, Dan Perrins, to undertake the review and report back to him by December.

The government says a quality education for students is its main goal, but Morgan said he would also like school board officials to find efficiencies where they can.

"You hear the stories all the time about the two buses on the same street that pass each other with one child on one and two on the other," Morgan said. "So, if you had one bus company doing it, could they use a better system of logistics? Those are the type of savings we'd like to ask them to explore."

The Opposition's education critic, Carla Beck, continues to be skeptical about the government's motivation.

"This appears to be more about cuts than it is about improving education," Beck told reporters. She said if quality education were the main goal, the government would not have a review conducted in a month.

"You would look for broad consultation; you would listen to people in the classrooms; you would listen to school boards and teachers and parents."

Beck said what she is hearing from those groups is fear that the government will look to classrooms to find the savings it needs to balance upcoming budgets.