Minister announces location of headquarters
and regional education centres for new school districts

Education Minister John Ottenheimer today announced government's next step toward school board consolidation, with the identification of locations for regional education centres and headquarters for the three new school districts.

The Western School District will have a headquarters in Corner Brook and regional education centres in Stephenville and Lower Cove. The Central School District will have a headquarters in Gander and a regional education centre in Grand Falls-Windsor. The headquarters of the Eastern School District will be located in St. John's with regional education centres located in Spaniard's Bay, Burin and Clarenville.

The Labrador School District will maintain its office in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and a regional education centre in Labrador west. The Conseil scolaire francophone headquarters will remain in St. John's.

"Given the geographic size of the new school districts, the government recognizes that a regional presence will be necessary to ensure the effective provision of administrative, program, maintenance and student transportation services," Minister Ottenheimer said. "Consequently, there is a need for regional offices to provide these supports. These regional education centres will ensure supports remain in close proximity to schools."

Each of the regional education centres will house a senior administrator, program specialists, student support services, itinerant teachers and student transportation/maintenance services. In addition to these services, the headquarters for each district will house the director of education, and assistant directors of programs, personnel and finance/administration. Considering the population size of the Eastern School District there will be an additional assistant director located in the Clarenville office specifically dedicated to rural school issues.

Decisions on the locations of school board headquarters and regional education centres were based on a number of factors including proximity to the majority of schools/students, existence of appropriate facilities and infrastructure, and overall cost-effectiveness. All of the sites chosen have existing facilities with current school districts and are located within driving distance of the majority of schools.

"With the recent announcement of chairs and transitional committees for the three new districts, and this announcement of locations for regional education centres and headquarters, we are moving toward the implementation of a new structure which will streamline administration but will have no negative impact at the classroom level,"said the minister. "The Department of Education will continue to work with our partners in education over the coming months to ensure the transition is successful."

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Media contact: Lynn Salter, Communications, (709) 729-0048

2004 04 30                                         3:30 p.m.