Parents group reacts to lack of documentation regarding Hanover School Division oversight

Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity (HPAD) calls the lack of documentation “shocking” following an investigation by The Carillon into reporting by the Hanover School Division’s provincial advisor.

“I can’t fathom that a government employee, or a government contractor, subcontractor, however you want to refer to Mr. Barkman. I can’t fathom that he’s been paid taxpayer dollars to perform a function, at the behest of the minister of education, and there’s nothing to show for it. That absolutely blows my mind. Talk about lack of accountability,” said an HPAD member who refused to be named.

That member is the spokesperson of the HPAD who remains anonymous to protect her child who is in the Hanover School Division.

Last week, The Carillon reported that there was no documentation to be found following a FIPPA request to gather information on the provincial special advisor’s reporting to the office of the minister of education.

Minister of Education Tracy Schmidt said Barkman’s assessments and recommendations were being discussed verbally with her deputy minister on a regular basis, whereupon the deputy minister discussed the findings verbally with Schmidt, which is why there is no documentation.

“Either he’s lying, or the people that you requested copies of it are lying, and I’m not sure which one is better or worse,” said the HPAD spokesperson.

Provincial special advisor Kelly Barkman was appointed in August 2024 by former Minster of Education Nello Altomare. Barkman is a retired superintendent who was hired to be a resource for the trustees, giving guidance on governance issues, hiring practices, policy development, but ultimately leaving the final decision making to the trustees.

Altomare’s appointment of a special advisor was prompted by a letter from HPAD. In the letter to the minister, HPAD raised concerns about discriminatory practices amongst six board members.

“And without the reports, how can the oversight be proven? How was he verifying that he’s actually spending any of this time? How are they tracking any of his concerns or insights or observations about how the board is functioning? To be able to measure growth, improvement, or issues that need to be (addressed)….If there’s no paper trail, I can’t understand that at all,” the HPAD spokesperson said.

Schmidt has yet to meet with the board to discuss Barkman’s reports.

In a previous interview, board chair Dallas Wiebe said the board implemented all of Barkman’s recommendations and that he was a great resource for the board. He was asked if he could provide examples of recommendations that Barkman made to the board and he couldn’t recall any. Former chair and current vice-chair Jeff Friesen was also asked to provide examples of recommendations made during his time as chair and he wouldn’t provide those examples.

“And their unwillingness to disclose any information. I mean, that just speaks to the ongoing pattern of board behavior of keeping things behind closed doors where they don’t belong,” the spokesperson said.

In a previous interview, Wiebe was asked if the recommendations made by Barkman will be shared with the public at the end of his tenure and Wiebe said no. When asked if any report will be shared with the public at the end of the oversight, Wiebe said that was a decision the board would have to make as a group.

HPAD plans to follow up with Schmidt by organizing a meeting with her.

“This is kind of – this is shocking,” the spokesperson said. “Like, somebody’s either dropping the ball, or somebody’s hiding, again, it’s our kids, right? No, we will definitely be pursuing some kind of follow-up, for sure.”