Parents in tussle over francophone trustees
A group of frustrated parents has sent a letter to Edmonton’s francophone school board demanding it make efforts to balance the number of Catholic and public trustees.
Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord (the Greater North Central Francophone School Board) runs five Catholic francophone schools and two public francophone schools in Edmonton. The two public schools are Ecole Gabrielle-Roy, in Strathearn, and Ecole à la Decouverte, in Kensington.
Parents have complained that both schools are too small for their student populations and that the school board hasn’t done enough to address the overcrowding.
Parents at Gabrielle-Roy are behind the letter, which claims the school board operates with a lack of transparency, poor long-term planning, and “general disregard for public school concerns.”
Some parents think the school board — which is made up of five Catholic trustees and two public ones — is biased, privileging Catholic schools over public ones.
Irene Althot, who has two children at Ecole à la Decouverte, said the school lacks computers and gym space. “If you go to a St. Albert French school, it’s like a Taj Mahal compared to what we have,” Althot said.
Gabrielle-Roy’s parent council has given the school board a June 30 deadline to address their concerns.
“If they don’t respond by the end of June, we are going to take our concerns to the education minister,” said Ibrahim Karidio, Gabrielle-Roy’s parent council president.
School board chair Kevin Bell (who is one of the two public trustees) said members are unanimous in their desire to make the board more representative before the next civic election in 2017.
As for the overcrowding issues and efforts to find a suitable space to house more public school students, he said: “We heard (the parents) loud and clear.”
“I am aware of the concerns raised by parents and I encourage the school board to give them serious consideration,” Education Minister David Eggen said in an email.
“I’m confident that all involved can work together in the best interest of students,” he continued.