The chairs of the Light of Christ and the Living Sky school boards have issued a joint statement in support of locally elected school trustees.
They also made clear they are no fans of more school division amalgamations, as they spoke to reporters at the Living Sky offices Monday in North Battleford.
The news conference was held as the province proceeds with a review of public education governance, part of the “transformational change” discussions happening in the province.
A provincial advisory panel is conducting that education review this month, in response to an Educational Governance Review Report by Dan Perrins released in December.
There had been talk in recent months that the review might propose doing away with locally elected school boards, and go with appointed boards instead. There has also been talk about reducing the number of existing boards.
Monday, both Living Sky board chair Ronna Pethick and Light of Christ chair Glen Gantefoer outlined why they are in favour of continuing with elected boards.
“Our education system has worked and is working with locally elected trustees and boards of education,” said Pethick.
A number of reasons were cited, but the point was made that locally elected boards provide a voice for the local community and provide accountability.
They noted there was a strong connection between effective boards, “informed by local community voices,” and the improvement of student achievement. They also noted decisions were best made at the grassroots level and that school boards have credibility and relationships with their communities.
Yet despite their support for elected boards, a number of current Living Sky and Light of Christ board members took their seats for the current term without needing a trip to the polls.
Last fall’s vote saw much of the Living Sky and Light of Christ board returned by acclamation, with contested elections happening in only a few districts.
Pethick and Gantefoer acknowledged the challenges of getting people interested in running for board elections, but made clear they didn’t think it warranted doing away with elected boards.
Pethick pointed out elections mean more accountability.
“Trustees who are elected locally have that connection to the community, because they live in those communities and have that accountability to the people who elect them,” said Pethick.
It was noted most of the acclamations involve incumbents, and respect for the incumbents was cited as one reason for the seats not being contested.
Gantefoer also pointed out that whenever someone retires from that position, “you’ll notice a lot of names come forward,” pointing to competitive contests for seats last fall where incumbents had departed.
“I don’t like it when people come to the conclusion that because there are folks acclaimed that the system isn’t working,” said Gantefoer.
Reducing school boards through amalgamation is a process both school boards have ample experience with in the past.
The last province-wide amalgamation happened a decade ago when the number of boards in the province was reduced from 96 to 28.
Neither board chair expressed much enthusiasm for going through that process again. Pethick noted the challenges that Living Sky School Division had after it was created 10 years ago.
“It takes years to create a culture where everyone comes together and believes there is one ‘Living Sky,’” said Pethick. “I know over the last 10 years it took a number of years to bring everyone together and under one culture, because amalgamations are very difficult.”
While Pethick says she believes Living Sky worked well for the students, she did note there were concerns expressed from the public that the previous Living Sky amalgamation had been “too big.”
Gantefoer also acknowledged the difficulties.
“The last round of amalgamations that occurred were forced,” said Gantefoer. “And here we are 10 years later and there’s a lot of school divisions who are just now settling in to a new normal.”
He said further amalgamation would only create more confusion and stress for everyone involved.
“And that’s what we’re hearing from parents. Parents wanted to have the folks that are governing the school boards to be close to them, to be in their communities so they could contact them.”
The general feedback, both board chairs acknowledged, was against further amalgamation and in favour of continuing with elected boards.
Some discussions have already been held. Gantefoer noted his board met with parishes, school community councils and MLAs.
This week, both boards were scheduled to appear before the six-person advisory panel looking into possible governance options for education, and make their submissions.
When asked about whether the government might have already made its mind up on the issue, Gantefoer said, “not sure.”
But he did express some hope from recent quotes from Education Minister Don Morgan that suggested the status quo might be an option. Previously, Gantefoer pointed out, he had said all options were on the table.
“I’m very hopeful that status quo is still an option,” Gantefoer said.
