Trustees spar over St. Thomas decision
What was intended on Tuesday night to be a considered reflection on the feedback received from St. Thomas d’Aquin School parents devolved into personal infighting between Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education trustees.
At the centre of the conflict were trustees Peter Grad and David Leahy, and it took place in front of about a half-dozen young St. Thomas parents.
After board chair Dick Mastel proposed that a vote on the closure motion take place at the Feb. 13 meeting, due to Trustee Grad being out of town for the Jan. 29 meeting, Trustee Leahy pushed the issue.
“I want everybody to know on the 29th I will propose a motion to close St. Thomas,” said Leahy, “and move the French immersion program to St. John Paul II, or if somebody else does I would support that notion. Planning is the main reason why I think this board should vote on the 29th about moving the program.”
Leahy then proceeded to again question the previous board’s decision-making process around the closure, and directly challenged superintendent Joe Colistro’s and senior staff’s planning, judgment and readiness around the hiring of new staff at St. John Paul II School, should St. Thomas close.
In his defence, Colistro said he and his staff had a plan, but thought it would be premature to advance it until the board made a decision on the closure of St. Thomas.
Leahy’s direct challenge to MHCBE senior staff in such a public way did not sit well with Grad.
“This is the job for our superintendent, who has his staff, and they will get it done,” said Grad. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with what’s been happening except someone said, a leader said, this (planning) was done poorly, and then a lot of people who didn’t know the details behind it started saying the same thing when the example was set.”
“What a bunch of bunk,” said Leahy in reply. “That, once again, is patronizing to parents. That I, David Leahy, have the power to make a few comments about concerns around planning, and all of a sudden ‘snap,’ you’re all out there at the meeting and social media complaining about it. No, I don’t have that power.”
Leahy carried on to say he was not elected to be “a puppet” or to “toe the party line.”
“I have a complete confidence in the superintendent,” Leahy said in retort to Grad, “but if I have a concern with something I am going to talk about it. I am not going to be muzzled.”
One of the St. Thomas parents watching on in the gallery was Leisha Lesko-Openo. At the opening of the meeting, Lesko-Openo was given an opportunity to speak to trustees on behalf of the school’s executive council. She made an impassioned plea for trustees to be guided by their Catholic principles as they decide her school’s future.
“I am invested in the success of our Catholic schools, but I only see that success in terms of the ability to truly, as our motto states, ‘show the face of Christ to all,’” she said. “Catholic schools are easy targets today, and risk irrelevance if they forget they are Catholic schools first, and fail to offer a clear identity and clear alternative.
“At a time when government funding dictates so much of our agendas, we as an education system need to revisit our mission as part of the Catholic church, and concentrate on that which determines true success. At the heart of any community, the integrity of its leaders are what matters and keep people engaged.”