Communication issues

It’s good to see the Regina public school board sitting down with school councils, after considerable pressure to improve communication with parents (“School board wraps up joint meetings”, Jan. 15 LeaderPost).

Board chair Katherine Gagne’s statement that “these are the parents who are absolutely committed to the success of their schools and their students” hopefully doesn’t presume there’s any other kind of parent. Certainly, it would also describe the Dieppe parents who argued, among other things, that McLurg school wouldn’t have the capacity to absorb a Dieppe closure. It seems they were correct.

The parents at the Dieppe meetings were similarly well-reasoned and calm. I recall it was on the board side where we saw finger-shaking and harsh words. In fact, over the years, I’ve observed that the parents are generally the calmer ones in the room while board representatives let their tempers flare. Sometimes a hot debate is OK — at least you know what people think.

The Dieppe meetings ended with a decision that community input was appreciated, but deluded and the school should close as originally planned. This has been the outcome of public consultations since the board began citing schools for closure in 2008. It’s no surprise, then, that the board considers lack of argument the sign of a highly successful meeting.

Meeting with parents is a positive step. Figuring out how to listen to and act on community input is something that still needs considerable work. If we want to save our schools, not close them, it’s an important skill to learn.

Trish Elliott, Regina