REGINA -- The Saskatchewan government has closed the book on the idea of amalgamating school boards.
The province announced when it tabled the new budget on Wednesday that school divisions will not be forced to merge and are keeping their elected boards.
Saskatchewan has 28 school divisions including 18 public, eight separate Roman Catholic, one separate Protestant and one francophone with 252 school board members provincewide.
A report released last December outlined ways to overhaul the school board system in Saskatchewan, including an option to consolidate all 18 existing public boards of education into one provincial board.
But Premier Brad Wall says people flooded his office with calls and emails against the idea, saying they wanted to keep their local voice with school boards.
Wall says the government will still make legislative changes to look for financial savings with school boards, such as sharing bus routes and set salaries for administration.
