Nova Scotia tables education reform bill

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s seven English language school boards will be dissolved March 31 under proposed legislation tabled Thursday.

In a sweeping omnibus bill, the province will also remove principals, vice-principals and senior supervisory staff from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. They will be rolled into a new association -- and their seniority and pay will be protected.

In a compromise move, the government will work with teachers and their union to develop teaching and leadership standards instead of creating a college of educators.

The government said it has also agreed to work with the union on extracurricular activities, professional development, teacher recruitment, rural education, educational needs of new immigrants, French language education, students living in poverty, and children in care.

While the Acadian school board will remain in place, the other boards will be replaced by a new Provincial Advisory Council of Education composed of 15 members representing all regions of the province.

“For the first time, there will be separate legislation for the (Acadian board), reflecting the cultural and linguistic rights of Acadians and francophones,” the government said in a statement.

The $2.3 million in annual stipends and expenses paid to school board members “will go back into schools,” the statement said.

The centres will continue to make the same regional and local decisions they do now, the government said. However, superintendents will become regional directors who will report to the deputy minister of education.

The reforms in the bill are based on recommendations contained in a recent report.