Skip to main content

Why is the Premier replacing 37 school boards with 794 mini school boards (the School Community Councils)?

On  Thursday March  18 in  Question Period, I asked the  Premier about his plans (in Bill  64) to eliminate school boards in Manitoba and to put in place School Community Councils which will be responsible for analyzing student achievement and  learning, for assessing  effectiveness of school programming, for holding the principal accountable and for evaluating the performance of any person employed in the school.  These were functions which were carried out by school boards. The existing school boards will be replaced by 794 School Community Councils (one for each school)  which will function as mini-school  boards.  I asked the Premier why he has chosen this approach when the comments we have heard from  Nova Scotia are that it has not worked well there.   My question and his response  are below (from  Hansard).   You can see  the comments of Wendy Bloomfield, long-time chair of the Seine River School Board on the question - "Will Bill 64 give us 794 mini school boards?" by clicking on this link.

School Community Councils - Replacement of School Boards

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, the Premier has said that the 794 school community councils will be responsible for analyzing student achievement and learning, for assessing effectiveness of school programming, for holding the prin­­cipal accountable and for evaluating the per­formance of any person employed in the school, and other functions.

      These were important functions of school boards previously. The Premier is replacing the current 33 school boards with 794 mini school boards–but, they won't have any formal authority.

      Why is the Premier taking this approach, which was found not to work very well in Nova Scotia?

Hon. Brian Pallister (Premier): Because, Madam Speaker, we like to take approaches here in Manitoba that work, and that's an approach that will work.

      It'll work because we trust the parents, we trust the families. We know they'll get involved, we know they want to be involved in the education of their children, and they'll have more opportunity to do that than ever before with these reforms.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March.  South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory.   The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions.   This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14.  Manitoba ( red line )  started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then.   South Dakota ( blue line )   has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4.  Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations
18 comments
Read more

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

  On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.  
Post a Comment
Read more

There is an imperative to have a provincial plan to ensure every child learns to read

Too many Manitoba children with learning disabilities like dyslexia are not being identified and helped early on starting in Kindergarten and grades 1 and 2.   The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that it is the provinces responsibility to ensure that every child learns to read, and even when, in the case of a child with dyslexia intensive intervention is needed.  In 12 years Manitoba has failed to produce a provincial plan to address this issue.  We are holding a Forum (see below) on this subject.  Please come out to the Forum.  There is no cost. Everyone is welcome.  To learn more about the need to do better helping children, youth and adults with a learning disability click on this link    
Post a Comment
Read more