Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty did not respond to a request by several groups for a provincial inquiry into the Bluewater District School Board.
Lesa McDougall of the Bluewater Citizens for Education says the premier had until January 8th to respond to a letter sent out under nine signatures representing several citizen’s groups.
McDougall says the next step is for the group to get together and see how they can involve the ombudsman’s office on some level.
She says she’s certain that Premier McGuinty wants to have safe schools throughout the province where students and staff can learn and grow.
However, such is not the case right now.
McDougall refers to her own case where her son was assaulted in school on several occasions to the point that she pulled her son out of the system.
McDougall — a former teacher within Bluewater — says she requested the involvement of the board and the administration to deal with the safety issues in the school environment.
However she came to learn that protocol says that when the board says there is no more discussion about any given case, then that’s where it ends.
McDougall says the group hasn’t decided when it will approach the Ombudsman’s office.
Besides McDougall, signatures on the original letter came from members of MendEd:
Mending Education; and the Chair of the Parents of Gifted Advocacy Network Deborah Whipple of Aurora and several other groups concerned about the governance and transparency of the board and the administration.