Employers of all kinds have a legal obligation to protect employee information. Unfortunately, all too often, they use this as a shield to cover up wrongdoing.
In November 2015, Christ the Teacher Catholic Schools issued a notice that Trent Senger was being replaced as principal of Sacred Heart High School. I instantly knew something smelled bad. High-ranking school officials simply do not, without notice, resign in the middle of a semester unless it is something tragic, such as a terminal illness, or some ethical or criminal breach of public trust.
If this had been something personal, I was completely willing to drop it. It would have been perfectly legitimate for the division to say he resigned for “personal reasons” that they could not divulge.
But school officials could not tell me that because that would have been outright lie. Then, if the truth ever came out, which it almost inevitably does, they would not only be faced with the original scandal and coverup, but also lying. So instead, they obfuscated hiding behind “privacy.”
Even after the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board (SPTRB) formally charged Senger and following last week’s front page story in this newspaper, the division stuck to their game plan issuing the following statement through board chair Lisa Rathgeber:
“Christ The Teacher Catholic School Division has been made aware and is cooperating fully with the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board (SPTRB) regarding an investigation involving a teacher who is no longer employed by our school division. Personnel issues, including personnel information of employees or former employees, cannot be discussed, but our school division has ensured appropriate steps and processes were followed for the benefit of our students and staff. The SPTRB is an independent regulatory body whose processes are identified in their regulations and our division will continue to provide appropriate cooperation as required.”
Even if I give school officials the benefit of the doubt, that they are not purposefully being deceitful, this demonstrates a disturbing lack of understanding of what constitutes “personnel information.”
This is not personnel information they are protecting, it is an allegation of professional misconduct contrary to The Registered Teachers Act that was sufficient for them to fire Senger or force him out, which in a case like this are ultimately the same thing.
The main charge here is a serious breach of public trust. Senger is alleged to have “directed staff to access the Ministry of Education’s Student Data System (“SDS”) to falsify a student’s transcript and give the student a passing mark for a class for which she never registered. You did this to allow the student to meet graduation requirements.”
If true, this is an egregious breach public trust, which the public had a right to know about when it happened. Now, we need answers to some other very important questions.
How many other students are walking around with high school diplomas from Sacred Heart who did not legitimately graduate?
How much did it cost taxpayers to allow Mr. Senger the privilege of resigning rather than firing him for cause as he should have been?
What does it say about us as a society that we put up with publicly-funded authorities covering up serious breaches of public trust?
What does it say about us that none of the sources I tried to cultivate at the time would go on the record because they had a visceral fear of retribution?
This is a news story that should not have the kind of legs it is going to have now because the school board handled it so badly.
This is not simply one teacher’s abuse of power; it is a systemic failure. Senger is being held to account, but the administration and school board must also answer for their transgressions.
