The seven English school boards in the province got their marching orders from the Education Department on Monday.
“I met with the board chairs last week and they did not agree with the policy direction we are headed in, but they all confirmed a commitment to helping government transition,” Minister Zach Churchill said. “At the end of the day, everybody cares about the students and their well-being,”
“In fact, their commitment speaks to that passion they have for kids.”
Churchill announced last week he intends to dissolve the seven elected boards and replace them with a provincial advisory council as part of government’s response to Dr. Avis Glaze’s report on a responsive education administrative system for the province.
Vivian Farrell, in her fourth term as a member of the Chignecto-Central regional board, said when the intention to dissolve the boards was announced, they were in effect already dissolved.
“Once the word goes out that we are abolished, once he (Churchill) says that we are abolished, basically we are,” said Farrell, who represents District 13, covering parts of Pictou and Colchester counties, on the 17-seat board.
“I heard somebody say that we are lame duck boards and we are. There is nothing that we can actually do. I don’t know if we will be able to approve budgets for the coming year or not. Maybe not.”
Churchill said the very intent of the letter sent to the boards Monday was to spell out what they can do.
During the transition period, decisions on some board matters will require the approval of the minister, the letter said. Those matters include: the approval of any new board policies; entering agreements or making substantive changes, including decisions on transportation, finance, operations and staffing; and initiating school reviews.
The boards must continue to work with the department to implement universal pre-Primary programming.
The letter to the boards makes it clear that if the directives are not met, the minister can appoint a person to carry out “such responsibilities and exercise such authority of the school board as the minister determines.”
The minister said the transition requires legislative changes to be made when the House reconvenes in late February.
“Our goal is to have the transition completed by next school year,” Churchill said. “Of course, that does require legislative changes that we will bring in in the spring. We are in a period of transition and I have full confidence in our boards and their ability to help us transition into the administration reality.”
He said the boards will be expected to consider budgets and look at teacher hirings and assignments for the coming year.
“I am not surprised, but at the same time I am very sad,” Farrell said of the change of direction articulated by the minister.
“We did have some flexibility as far as putting money into programming, for example, extra resources to help close the achievement gap. We were very proud of, as a board, extra reading programs and so on.
“It always made us feel that we were doing something for students and I worry about all of these programs. All of the needs in every board are not the same. We were able to address them at the local level, looking at our local schools. I don’t see the same kind of detail now being paid.”
Churchill said the changes will ensure that education decisions are being made by the right people.
“A big component of this report was about empowering local school communities, empowering our front lines,” the minister said.
“We believe that by giving more authority to school advisory councils, by giving them a budget to direct investment in their school communities in a way that they believe it should be, by putting more decision-making abilities in the hands of our principals and our teachers to make the day-to-day decisions, we think (that) will result in an education system that is more responsive to the local needs of our communities and our students.”
Churchill acknowledged the work boards have done.
“They are not happy; they poured their hearts and souls into these jobs and they care about their communities,” the minister said, adding that the fact they are committed to the students under the new plan is both commendable and appreciated.
Farrell said the Chignecto-Central board will gather for a regular meeting on Valentine’s Day, but she doesn’t expect a lot of enthusiasm.
“There was a lot of business to do and we felt very satisfied at the end of the board meetings, but going without a direct mission or knowing if what we do is any good or not…” she said.
“I do believe that we have made a tremendous amount of decisions over the years, most of them good. We’ve made them always with the best interest of students at heart…. We were always trying to make things better. By golly, I think we did our best and made lots of differences.”
