‘Pleasantly surprised’
Parent happy province will following through on recommendation to dissolve school boards
One parent whose kids attend Coldbrook and District School says he’s all in for one centralized advisory council replacing seven separate school boards.
DJ Hanninen says he was “very pleasantly surprised” the province not only hired educational consultant Dr. Avis Glaze but followed through on accepting most of her recommendations.
“It’s amazing to see a decision be made to follow through like that,” he said.
“You have to try something out to see if it will work, and we’ll soon see if this will indeed work or not.”
Hanninen says he does wonder how the overall governance will work as the system makes this upcoming dramatic shift, and that one centralized voice can also come with problems.
“It will be interesting how outlying communities, like the Annapolis Valley and Cape Breton, will be brought to the table,” he says.
He also wonders at how the appointment process for regional advisors will work, when compared to the current system that uses elections.
“We’ll need to know who does the appointing, and how the decisions are made. It’s important to know how this will work,” he says.
The Annapolis Valley Regional School Board, meanwhile, released a statement on the province’s decision.
Their statement outlines the government’s decision and states each school board will receive directives from the government on how to proceed until the dissolution happens. That was expected to happen Jan. 26.
According to the statement, the AVRSB’s focus is always on the students and it reassured parents that schools and services for students will continue to operate as usual.
Board chairwoman Lavinia Parrish Zwicker says that although governing board members were “shocked and saddened” by some of the recommendations accepted by government, the report also contains many ideas to better support students for which board members have advocated. These include calls for stronger wrap-around services for students, more supports for principals as instructional leaders, and changes to the provincial funding formula to better address current needs.
“Many of the recommendations in the Glaze report make sense and reflect the voice of governing boards, including AVRSB and our fellow boards across Nova Scotia,” Parrish Zwicker said in the prepared statement.
“’While it is disheartening that we will lose a regional voice on behalf of communities, we will move forward by focusing on the aspects of the report that will benefit students and their success, which has always been at the heart of what we do.’”
As more information is received from the province, updates will be posted to www.avrsb.ca and shared with school communities, the statement added.