Around 50 people showed up at a meeting in Walkerton to share their views on how the Bluewater District School Board conducts its business.
It was the final public session as part of its review of communication and policies.
Reductions to the TRAIL program for gifted students, the elimination of subject rotary in grades seven and eight, and how decisions are made and communicated are the most common concerns and complaints.
Trustee John Chapman says the decision to cut rotary was an operational one made by board administration.
He says trustees were not consulted or asked about having or not having rotary.
Chapman says in retrospect, things should have been done differently because of the section in the Education Act that requires consultation.
Emma Harman, a grade eight student at Huron Heights Public School in Kincardine says when rotary was discontinued at that school, students only found out by word of mouth.
She questions if the board actually wants to hear the student perspective and says that’s why she and her friends started a petition to bring back rotary.
Parent Julie Matthews of Port Elgin says parents have taken their children out of Bluewater schools because of the lack of specialized teachers and programs.
Trustees will vote on a motion at a meeting later this month that would give principals the right to partially restore rotary in their schools if they felt it was the right option.
One parent questions if the board administration will disregard the motion, even if trustees approve it.
Vice Chair Jan Johnstone says principals have the right to organize their schools however they feel is necessary and that if the motion passes, they will be informed of the significance of the decision and how it should be followed.
The decision to reduce TRAIL was made during last year’s budget process when a staff member in the program retired and was not replaced.
Lesa McDougall of the Bluewater Citizens for Education group is still concerned about the safety of students who have allegedly faced verbal abuse from teachers. She says discussing communication ignores the issue of student safety.
McDougall says she’s heard from all stakeholders in the Bluewater board who say they’re concerns are unheard.
She calls the communication issue a “red herring,” and it implies that there was ever proper communication to begin with, adding that one-way communication is not communication.
McDougall also wants to know when the board last reviewed the Director of Education’s position and job performance.
Johnstone says it will take place at the end of June and that previous to a year ago, the board did not have a written job description for the role of director or the trustees, but they have since developed one.
Kincardine parent Gail Walden asks if it was true that if the membership of volunteer member of a committee was openly questioned at one of its meetings.
Chair Jennifer Yenssen confirms it happened and offers her apologies.
Yenssen respects that concerned parents and other citizens have been using the series of stakeholder and public meetings to vent their concerns about the board, but she also wants to arrive at a point where changes can be made to communications procedures and public concerns are better heard.
She says the next step is to continue this fall with focus groups and a broad public satisfaction survey geared to parents, students, staff, and community partners.
Yenssen doesn’t want to get bogged down in the process of ongoing discussions, but says parents have told her they want a careful, thorough approach in order to prevent the same problems from developing again.
She says some of the communication issues arise from when school boards were amalgamated 11 years ago and the corporate approach the provincial government wanted to take with education at the time.
Yenssen says trustees need to put measures in place to ensure accountability and look at board by-laws.
The meetings have been moderated by an independent facilitator, Peggy Sattler, a trustee with the Thames Valley District School Board in London.