Power to dismiss P.E.I. school board in new bill
Trustees 'dominating and disruptive,' mediator says
Legislation introduced in the P.E.I. legislature Wednesday gives the education minister the power to fire a democratically-elected school board.
Education Minister Doug Currie promised the legislation last month as he attempts to deal with what many people are calling a dysfunctional board in the Eastern School District. The P.E.I. Home and School Association has told the minister it has lost confidence in the board and the board superintendent has called some of the trustees disruptive.
Most recently, a group of school principals has written to Currie to complain about the quality of education.
Currie said he reviewed legislation in other provinces before tabling the amendments Wednesday.
"If you look at the original legislation, it was clearly incomplete," he said.
"I didn't have clear or explicit authority to force a school board to act in the best interests of kids. With the legislation tabled yesterday, I do now."
The new legislation would allow the minister to appoint a single, official trustee in place of a school board. That trustee would serve until the next school board election. It would also allow the minister to appoint a commissioner to investigate board operations and finances. The new act also gives the minister the power to fire individual trustees as a result of such an investigation.
Failed mediation
Currie has provided the board with funding for two attempts to mediate its differences. CBC News obtained a copy of a report from the second consultant this week.
At the time of that mediation, divisions in the board were so deep that three trustees decided not to take part in the process.
The report says the trustees taking part in the mediation held "significant discussions about the impact of Edna Reid, Gael MacEachern and to a lesser extent Elizabeth Rankin's behaviour at board meetings." They concluded the women had been "dominating and disruptive. Insulting and abusive."
Edna Reid called the exercise destructive in nature, and not one meant to help the board.
"That whole process and that report was not mediation; it certainly wasn't conflict resolution," said Reid.
"It was a very serious targeting of two trustees, to hopefully force us to leave the board."
Rankin resigned earlier this week. Reid and MacEachern say they are not going anywhere.