School boards across the country are expressing disappointment over an announcement last week from the Government of Nova Scotia.

The governing Liberal Party announced it is looking at dissolving regional school boards and their elected trustees in favour of government appointed board. The move would impact several of the province's public school boards but not affect the francophone schools.

On Tuesday (January 29), the Canadian School Board Association met in Calgary to express their concern over the decision, calling it a threat to democracy.

Mary Martin, the President of the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) says her organization is disappointed in the announcement.

"When you're looking at removing locally elected school boards, you're actually removing the voice of the electors in the communities where our schools are and their ability to help create the vision for excellence in education in the communities that they serve."

That statement was echoed by Alberta's Education Minister, David Eggen, who sent this statement via email.

“In Alberta, we believe that families with children deserve to be represented by an elected board of trustees. School trustees play an important role in our education system as they make local decisions in the best interests of their communities. I value the role that our school trustees play in ensuring that we continue to make life better for all Alberta students.”

The response from the Minister is a welcome assurance to Martin and the ASBA who says elected officials are what make Alberta's education system what it is.

"School Boards matter. Alberta and Canada are provincial and national and international leaders in education and a large part of that is the effective governance of these public, separate and francophone school systems."

Closer to home, Rocky View Schools said that they've not had the opportunity to discuss this issue but hope to comment in the near future.

 

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