Hay River (Mar 13/06) - A decision, although perhaps not the final one, will be made soon on Hay River's bid for more control over education.

Education Minister Charles Dent says he will make a decision on a petition from the Hay River District Education Authority (DEA) within the next couple of weeks.

However, Dent says he has a number of options, including agreeing to the petition, denying it, or seeking more information."The legislation doesn't tie my hands in what my response should be," he says.

Late last year, Dent launched consultations in the South Slave on the petition.

The consultations ended in mid-February, and the minister says he has 30 days from the end of the consultation period to make a decision.

The DEA is seeking more autonomy from the regional school board - the South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC).

Dent says he received "significant" input - up to 20 responses - on the DEA proposal. The opinions came from a variety of organizations, including Hay River town council, the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association and aboriginal groups.

"It's a controversial proposal," he says. "I expected we would have heard from a fair number of people."

The DEA submitted its plan for more power to the minister in October.

DEA chair David MacDonald says the plan would not mean any extra GNWT money for South Slave education. Instead, he explains all of Hay River's share of the SSDEC's almost $19-million budget would be passed along to the DEA. That would mean an approximately $1-million increase for the community to a total of about $7.1 million.

The DEA would hire its own superintendent and consultants for each of its three schools, while technically remaining part of the SSDEC.

MacDonald says he is anxiously awaiting to hear from the minister.

"We'd like to get this done and move forward," he says.

The Hay River DEA has wanted out of the SSDEC for many years, citing numerous differences of opinion.

"It's not working and it hasn't worked for a long time," MacDonald says.