BRANDON — A three-person oversight panel that includes a Brandon trustee has been appointed to assist a beleaguered western Manitoba school board.
Education Minister Nello Altomare confirmed the panel’s job is to provide guidance for the Mountain View School Division.
“Stability right now is important, especially for students and community members,” Altomare said. “We believe that these three individuals can provide a lot of guidance, a lot of support for this board. I do believe the board is interested in doing the good work that they need to do … We need to move forward and this oversight panel will help them with that work.”
Colin Slark / Brandon Sun files
Comments made by Mountain View School Division Ward 2 trustee Paul Coffey were called racist by various groups, including the the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and the Manitoba Métis Federation.
The panel is comprised of Jim Murray, vice-chair of the Brandon School Division’s board of trustees, Manitoba Métis Federation vice-president Francis Chartrand and Andrea Zaroda, a staff officer with the Manitoba Teachers’ Society.
The Dauphin-area division came under fire after an April presentation made by trustee Paul Coffey was deemed racist by multiple groups, including the MMF and MTS.
During the presentation, Coffey said residential schools started as a good thing, called Indigenous people “Indians” and said the term “white privilege” was racist.
Since then, Altomare ordered a governance review, the board dismissed superintendent Stephen Jaddock and three trustees resigned, leaving four vacancies on the local board.
“This panel will assist in navigating recent board and staff turnover, strengthening governance practices and community relations. They will also ensure that MVSD progresses on key priorities such as diversity, inclusion and reconciliation,” a statement on the Mountain View School Division website says.
Altomare said one of the reasons for the oversight panel’s appointment was to assist with preparations for next school year. Another was the board is close to losing a quorum — the minimum number of members present at meetings to pass votes — because of its four vacancies.
The cabinet minister wouldn’t say whether the MMF and MTS appointees had been chosen because of their previous criticism of the MVSD. Altomare also didn’t comment on whether he was considering dissolving the board entirely, which the provincial government can do by issuing an order in council appointing a special trustee to manage its affairs.
The panel is to report back to Altomare; further updates on the process will come from him and his department.
As for the governance review, the education minister said it is still in progress and the oversight panel will help inform it. He wouldn’t say whether the results of the review would be made public.
By email, Mountain View board chair Gabe Mercier said the board’s statement posted online contained all the information he knew about the panel.
Murray said Altomare invited him to join the panel.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Education Minister Nello Altomare has ordered a governance review into the Mountain View School Division.
“There’s been some difficulties that they’ve had with the division and so I said, certainly, I would do that,” Murray said Wednesday. “Actually, it’s kind of an honour to be chosen amongst all the trustees in Manitoba to sit on a committee like that.”
At this point, Murray said he has not been provided with any further direction about the role. He was reserving judgment about the recent troubles at MVSD until he learns more. “I want to go into this with an open mind and see what can be done to help that community out.”
Nathan Martindale, president of MTS, attended Monday’s MVSD meeting, telling the Sun before proceedings started he wanted the provincial government to dissolve the board entirely.
On Wednesday, he said the panel is “well-rounded, in terms of its representation” and hopes the move will bring stability.
“We have every confidence that the panel is going to ensure a safe and inclusive environment out there in the Mountain View School Division,” he said. “We know that the panel will be very closely monitoring all of the discussion and all of the actions of the school board.”
In an email statement, Chartrand thanked Altomare for allowing her to take such a role. “Together, we will continue to place our focus on what matters most to all of us: the well-being of children and an inclusive school division, reflective of our inclusive community.”
In an email, Progressive Conservative education critic Grant Jackson called for an immediate byelection to fill the board of trustees vacancies.
— Brandon Sun