Tri-County school board's problems known before audit, says province

Nova Scotia's highest ranking education official says the province was aware of problems at the Tri-County Regional School Board before the auditor general's critical examination.

However, Sandra McKenzie, the deputy minister of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, said it wasn't until auditors reported back to the department that it became clear the problem was the board's lack of understanding of its central role.

In December, Auditor General Michael Pickup released a report criticizing management oversight at the board and said the board does not "spend appropriate effort on the fundamental role of educating students."

"The board does not request or receive important information to know whether schools are planning or making sufficient progress towards achieving business plan goals, the academic performance of students is meeting expectations and the development needs of teachers and principals are met," the report added.

Students at the Tri-County Regional School Board have performed at or near the bottom of the pack, province-wide, when it comes to math and literacy scores.

The board also leads the province in the number of students on Individual Program Plans or IPPs. Those are plans designed to help students who are struggling, excelling or are intellectually delayed or physically disabled.

Review of Individual Program Plans

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has also launched a province-wide review of IPPs and how they are administered.

The deputy minister said her department puzzled over the poor performance of Tri-County students, but it was the auditor general's office that connected the low scores to the board's lack of understanding of its central role.

"We would have had conversations with the board and I would have been meeting with the superintendent and we would have been taking a deep look at the outcomes," said McKenzie.

"This is the first time where where the auditor general has made a connection between the board understanding its role and the management, in terms of supporting the board understanding its role and the management of the overall outcomes for the students in that school board."