Trustees’ sour scorecard no surprise

‘Dysfunctional’ tossed around as 5 public school board members doubt soundness of board decisions

WATERLOO REGION — Trustees say bad blood is still dragging down the public school board.

“We knew we weren’t going to fix this in six months. We knew we weren’t going to fix it in a year. This is something that is going to take time,” board chair Scott McMillan said about trustee conflicts.

Every year the Waterloo Region District School Board surveys its 11 elected trustees on school board performance. The 2017 survey, just released, says:

Six trustees feel they work poorly together and five trustees feel their conflicts impair the board’s capacity to govern.

Six trustees feel the board’s performance needs to improve; and five trustees doubt the soundness of the board’s decision-making.

Seven trustees completed the survey, anonymously. McMillan chose not to participate as board chair. New trustee Courtney Waterfall did not participate after her appointment in June. Two other unidentified trustees did not participate.

The sour trustee scorecard is no surprise at a board that’s become known for drama, tears and infighting.

In the past two years, six trustees have been embroiled in bitterness over who said what to whom. One trustee asked Ontario’s ombudsman to intervene. The board spent up to $14,000 investigating three complaints under the trustee code of conduct, confirming one violation and dismissing two com-

plaints.

The board will spend $824 million to educate 62,820 students starting in September. Asked to describe its strengths, one trustee wrote: “Can’t think of anything at the moment.”

Asked to describe board limitations, one trustee wrote: “A minority of trustees have openly stated that they want to make the board appear so dysfunctional that the ministry (of Education) will have to take it over.”

Trustees are sparring while the board struggles to improve its poor graduation rate and mediocre test results.

During the past decade, public elementary school students have drifted six percentage points behind the Ontario average across reading, writing and math, based on standardized tests. One in three public high school students fails to graduate within four years, a rate that’s among Ontario’s worst. Trustees have taken steps to work better together. They are reviewing their code of conduct, concerned in part that they use it against each other too often. They chose rookie trustee McMillan as chair last December, hoping his skills as a former junior hockey coach may help them work as a team.

McMillan says trustees are struggling with changes in their role.

“A lot of the personal conflict that we have is a result of trustees not feeling effective,” he said.

He warns that elected school boards may no longer be useful if trustees don’t adapt.

“We’re trying to find our way in this new role,” he said.

By provincial direction, trustees no longer set education taxes or curriculum or get into daily school operations. Instead they balance a budget with provincial funding, advocate for parents, and establish broad policy.

Waterfall, the newest trustee, hopes to help the board work effectively.

“I’m pretty good at putting my personal opinions and emotions aside when I’m working toward something,” she said.

Trustees are paid $15,700, of that a third is tax-free. It equals a taxable salary ranging from $17,000 to $21,700, depending on other income a trustee may have.

In the survey, trustees say they feel actively involved in planning the direction of the school board and their meetings are well-managed. One trustee wrote that most trustees “are willing to set aside any personal differences to do what is right for our students.”

While trustees remain underwhelmed by board performance, they feel slightly better about how they’re doing than a year ago.

“It shows that we’re moving in the right direction, but that progress is slow, and trust has to be built, it has to be earned, and we have to be committed to sticking it out,” McMillan said.