Jim Gunn says Tri-Country school board fixing its problems

The man hired to help the Tri-County Regional School Board sew back together its tattered reputation says it's a fixable situation. 

The board received a scathing report from the province's auditor general last year. It found Tri-County students routinely scored lower on standardized tests than the rest of the province.

The province hired Jim Gunn to help the board, which serves about 6,100 students in Digby, Yarmouth and Shelburne counties. Gunn sat on the board in 2011, and served as superintendent of the Annapolis Valley region for 14 years. 

"I never thought for a moment it was completely broken and we've got a major problem here," said Gunn, "No, I didn't see it that way."

Gunn said the Tri-County school board is working hard to meet the 10 recommendations made by Auditor General Michael Pickup.

"About half are in pretty good shape. Some are completed in my opinion, quite satisfactorily," said Gunn.

The auditor general said the board wasn't spending enough effort on educating students and didn't have enough information to know whether students and schools are meeting their academic goals.

Gunn said they're working on solving those problems, but it could take years to fully address the issues.

Nova Scotia's Minister of Education Karen Casey believes that time frame is reasonable. 

"The results in students' scores, based on what the board has done within the last six months, is not going to be reflected for a long time, but it is a starting point. It does, I believe, give parents and teachers more confidence that their efforts are focused on student achievement." 

Casey said the Tri-County board shouldn't feel singled out by the auditor general. She said since filing his report on Tri-County, he's started investigating three other school boards.         

Database to track student performance

The board will use a student achievement database called PowerSchool to develop annual reports on student performance in a number of subjects, including literacy and numeracy.

That information will be used to develop strategies to improve students' results.

"I think it's a very good process," said Donna Tidd, chairwoman of the school board. "I think we have a very good process in place. The board receives updates on all those things and the staff is continuing to work on improving all of the student outcomes and making sure the board is aware of what is going on."  

Tidd believes the process has strengthened the board and made them closer to staff. The auditor general had shared concerns about board members' lack of respect for each other.

Board member Dolores Atwood said they're working on their problems. "We are not there yet, but we are better than we used to be."

Gunn said he's impressed with the work the board and staff has put in. "There was no dragging of feet or making excuses. They just went at it in a determined way to say we're going to address these positively."