Trustees shouldn't have final say in hiring teachers, education minister tells Hanover division
Ian Froese | CBC News | Posted: May 8, 2024 9:37 PM | Last Updated: May 8
Education minister has enlisted outside support to guide Hanover School Division on next steps
Manitoba's education minister is asking trustees at a Steinbach-based school division to reverse their controversial decision to give themselves the final say in the hiring of gym and music teachers.
Nello Altomare said trustees at the Hanover School Division, and elsewhere, have a responsibility to ensure schools are safe and inclusive spaces, and must be leaders, rather than "doing the bare minimum."
"School divisions need to be exemplars. They need to be leading the community in this.… and I expect them to do that," he said Wednesday.
He's asking the board to change its mind after a group of parents, who call themselves the Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity, wrote a letter to him calling for the removal of six of the board's nine trustees.
The group alleged a new policy approved by the board on April 2, which gives trustees final approval on the hiring of any gym and music teachers, is discriminatory and an attempt to reduce the number of diverse and 2SLBGTQ+ staff in Hanover.
The motion, brought forward by trustee Shayne Barkman, was passed in a 5-4 vote, board chair Brad Unger previously told CBC.
Traditionally, assistant superintendents and principals of schools hire teachers, said Altomare. Trustees are usually involved in hiring superintendents, who in turn are responsible for hiring staff for schools.
Altomare has appointed a retired superintendent and a legal expert to visit Hanover's school board and provide support around the trustees' next steps. He wouldn't provide their names, but said they would be speaking with the board "very soon."
The parents' alliance says the initial explanation provided by the trustees during the April board meeting for the new policy was that gym and music teachers are the faces of the division at sporting events and concerts.
Though the education minister acknowledged the hiring policy is permitted under the terms of the Public Schools Act, "that doesn't mean it's something that you want to do."
Altomare said he's confident the school board will take his advice.
"I have faith that they're going to follow through on some of the suggestions I provided."
Unger said in an email the board has no comment at this time.
Teachers may apply elsewhere: minister
Altomare said the board hasn't made any promises but was a receptive audience during a meeting he requested. Every Hanover trustee made the trip into Winnipeg for the meeting last Wednesday, he said.
"They didn't say anything to me, but they did take note of what I said. A lot of nodding heads were in the room and [they] understood what my concerns were."
The minister warned imposing barriers on the hiring process may impact the quality of candidates a school division receives.
"We're in a very competitive environment when it comes to teachers. Teachers are going to look, and if they think that it's not going to be a welcoming place for them to work, they're just not going to apply," Altomare said.
Trustees "need to remember that."
He added that "principals and superintendents are really good at their jobs — [the trustees] don't need to micromanage what they're doing."
Altomare's office waited until he spoke with the parent alliance on Monday before speaking publicly about his meeting last week with Hanover's trustees. The discussion with the parents also went well, he said.
"I think all they want is just an avenue to express their concerns," said Altomare.
Counter-petition backs board
The parent group's letter to the education minister also raised concerns with two other motions some trustees tried to pass during the same April board meeting.
One called for trustees to be notified of all applications for all positions within Hanover School Division, but even after being revised to only include applicants for principal and vice-principal jobs, the motion wasn't approved.
Another motion that didn't pass called on students to be separated by gender to receive Grade 7 sex education curriculum, the group's letter to Altomare said. The group called that "harmful and exclusionary to any students who don't identify with the debunked concept of a gender binary."
The letter also alleges the trustees failed to meet duties outlined in the Public Schools Act to ensure students have a safe and caring school environment and to establish a policy concerning respect for human diversity.
The group also started an online petition, which garnered support from nearly 1,300 people, calling for the removal of some trustees.
However, a counter-petition backing the board in light of the controversy has more than 4,500 signatures.
That petition says the trustees in question are dedicated and committed to ensuring area children have the best education.
"They consistently make policy decisions that reflect the ideologies of the local residents," the petition reads.