LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Our choice, our responsibility

After four years of observing our current school board in action, we will finally have a say in what kind of a school board and what kind of trustees we would want to represent us for the next four years. And this time around there are excellent and worthy candidates in most wards. But we have to realize that we are now responsible to vote and to choose candidates that will form the kind of board we envision. Many questions have been posed to the candidates, but here are a few for you the voter.

Do you want change or more of the same?

Do you want a democratic public school board with a great local, provincial and even national reputation for high quality education and a highly caring and inclusive learning environment? Such a board has in the past served as a priceless asset for the City of Steinbach, Town of Niverville and Hanover municipality, helping to attract a steady stream of newcomers and fueling our near record growth.

Do you want trustees who are committed to support a fully public vision for our schools and actually show faith in the system they presume to govern by entrusting their children and grandchildren to public schools? Currently we have a number of people serving on the public board who have made the choice to educate their children in the private system and even take part in governance both in the private and public system. They chose to leave the system but then came back to claim governance of a system they rejected.

Do you want trustees who understand that they hold in trust the well-being of their staff and of each and every student in their care, regardless of race, religion or even sexual orientation? Current policy proposals supported by sitting board members and candidates for re-election call into question the appropriateness of among other things, Indigenous education. HSD currently has almost 750 students who come to us with an Indigenous/Métis background.

As a child my Christian Mennonite parents taught me the importance of wisdom, love, respect, courage, honesty, humility and truth – values reinforced by Sunday School and church at the Steinbach EMC and by character-education in the public school system. And lo and behold, these are also the seven sacred teachings of the Anishinaabe – our Indigenous neighbours.

Do you want trustees who understand that their personal beliefs and opinions are worthy and valid for themselves, but as trustees of a public school division they are expected to be the protectors of each and every child, even if they do not fit within their personally held belief system?

This election cycle we are blessed with a long list of suitable candidates who would bring the kind of change envisioned above. We have mothers and fathers who presently have children in our public schools. Mothers who have many years of service on the parent councils of the schools their children attend. We have very capable people who have served on a variety of boards and know how ethical boards should act. Let’s give these people their chance to make a difference.

But if you want more of the same:

The trustees from the current board, who are seeking reelection, and some of the new candidates, are actively working to gain another voting block of like-minded people with the same agenda. They have not changed their attitudes or their plans. Are you OK with secret/private meetings of a smaller group of the board, where decisions on voting are made in advance, without consultation or open discussion with other trustees or the public? Are you OK with public board meetings where the sound system is not in use so that side discussions are often unintelligible to those attending, and voting records are not kept or published in the minutes? Are you OK with a board that needs to get “called to the office” by the Minister of Education to remind them that their actions are unethical or even illegal? Are you OK with losing four senior administrators in four years – all of whom have gone on to leadership roles in other settings? Are you OK with trustees openly questioning the validity, culture, and religion of large groups of students they should be supporting and protecting? Finally, are you OK with the undermining of trust between parents and schools with imported or divisive issues manufactured to instill fear of the public system and our teachers?

Parents in Manitoba and HSD already have a choice – private schooling, homeschooling, non-schooling or public schooling. Those who have chosen to entrust their children to the public system have the right to be represented by those who rigorously uphold the values of democratic and inclusive public education for each and every child – not just the “right” ones. Let’s demand nothing less from trustee candidates, when they publish their platforms, make pitches in the media, come to our door, and finally, when we make our choice at the polls in October.

And after the election, regardless of who we elect, we will continue to call for true transparency and legal and ethical behaviour from each and every trustee. We will call for the use of the sound system at all public board meetings and the possibility of live-streaming and recording all meetings. We will ask for the recording of all votes in the minutes. We will question any meeting of a voting block that is not open to all trustees. And we will call out all behaviour and decisions not consistent with a well-ordered and ethical public school board.