Please find below an article published by the Hudson Gazette
LBPSB denounces Quebec ‘trusteeship’
by Nathalie Blais Hudson Gazette
Spending restraints imposed by the provincial education ministry are forcing the Lester B. Pearson School Board to further tighten its belt in fiscal 2010.
The $213,990,333 budget adopted by commissioners at Monday’s meeting was balanced by means of $704,250 from the board’s accumulated surplus, the maximum the board can access this year.
Technically, the board has $7,042,497 in the bank. However, the ministry has frozen all surpluses, allowing school boards to access only 10 percent per year, explains Carol Heffernan, the board’s senior director of finance.
LBPSB commissioners also adopted a resolution calling on the National Assembly to amend Bill 100, which imposes an an immediate 25 percent reduction in travel, publicity, and professional development and requires boards to cut administrative expenditures by 10 percent by the end of 2014.
This will be the last year until then that senior administrators receive performance bonuses, Heffernan said.
“The LBPSB and other boards have already demonstrated greater efficiency in their expenditure of public funds than any other level of government or public service in Quebec,” the resolution reads. “We are calling upon the government to respect the legitimate rights of school boards in Quebec to manage their own financial responsibilities.”
LBPSB chairman Marcus Tabachnick said the government’s micromanagement was tantamount to trusteeship.
“It really isn’t for someone sitting in an office in Quebec City to…arbitrarily impose cuts,” he said. “It is unacceptable that it is done at a distance not taking into account the needs of our kids.”
Also discussed was the process of rezoning attendance zones in the off-island communities in view of the $8-9 million elementary school in St. Lazare scheduled to open its doors September 2011. The 19-classroom school will house up to 450 students and feature a double gym, a multi-purpose room to be used as an agora/ cafeteria with a kitchen.
Commissioners were given the documentation on rezoning June 10. The board has begun school-zone discussions with parents’ committees and governing boards at off-island schools. If needed, a public consultation will take place in late October, with a final decision on the contentious busing issue by Nov. 29, in time for registration in the new school year.
Other changes:
· 2010/2011 will see the completion of phase two of the Eco Energy project. In this phase over $12 million will be spent upgrading boilers, lighting fixtures and energy controls in 27 LBPSB buildings with the goal of reducing green house gas emissions and cost savings which will go to educational programs.
· Continuation of the Kindergarten-for-four-year-olds program in five elementary schools in order to better prepare those students for the full-time educational program starting in Kindergarten.
Numerous language initiatives are coming into effect for the 2010-2011 school year including:
· Piloting of a Français Plus program in cycle 2 of St Edmund’s elementary school to begin with Grade 3 for the 2010-2011 school year and adding Grade 4 for the 2011-2012 school year;
· Offering a Language Plus program in three elementary schools whereby students can participate in language courses in Mandarin, Spanish and Italian;
· Expansion of the International Studies Program which will continue to welcome a growing number of students from China, Europe and South America to LBPSB schools, benefitting students from additional cultural exchanges while generating income;
· Expansion of the International Pre-Kindergarten Program whereby three and four-year-olds follow an educational program which includes instruction in three languages, English, French, and one of Spanish, Italian, or Mandarin. -with files from Jim Duff
Source: Hudson gazette
Under the guise of educational development, chosen members of some school boards like the LBPSB and EMSB and others have utilized the school boards as self serving travel agencies. Morally bankrupt individuals who fall in the same category as Ponzi scheme artists with the exception that they do it on the backs of innocent children. Disgusting! They will get their just desserts in the after-life. The MELS must close all these self serving loopholes.
“LBPSB chairman Marcus Tabachnick said the government’s micromanagement was tantamount to trusteeship.”
Tabachnick has got it right; his school board – and others – are under effective government trusteeship, and deservedly so Quebec school boards’ wish to suck up tax dollars while resenting the any form of accountability is a scandal! What do we get for our money? The highest Drop-out rate in North America!
Trusteeship — BS. They’ll say anything and lie about everything just to have total control over the millions of taxpayer dollars. No transparency, no accountability, rampant nepotism, that’s what school boards are all about. Along with Bill 100, investigators with real clout should take a look at the books.
Micromanagement of schools has been the trademark of the Lester B Pearson School Board since its creation. Creativity and local initiatives at the school level have been suppressed and thwarted by a centralized cookie cutter approach at the school board. Schools that could develop to more reflect the local community needs are restricted in doing so by having financial resources tied up by bureaucratic levels of administration at head office. Of course in-school administrators are chosen by the school board to carry out the School Boards’ dogma creating frustration at the in-school personnel level and at the governing board level.
Simple solutions to physical and pedagogical issues take longer than normal to correct because the schools actions are limited by having to go through head office. Simple physical corrections to the plant have to go through layers of approval at head office creating a sense of futility and discouragement amongst staff.
In the meantime under the guise of International Education programs, conventions, study sessions etc. head office personnel are globetrotting around the world on the public purse with very little effect or impact at the classroom level.
The current model of local school administration through the “middle man/woman” called school boards is outdated, wasteful and limits local initiatives by teachers, parents and the local school community as a whole.
Greater autonomy must be GIVEN BACK to the schools to effectively address the specific challenges facing the local school community.
With todays’ centralized elctronic accounting ability, there is no reason why schools cannot have greater control over their financial resources and operational processes.
Having viewed the educational process from both a public and private school perspective, I totally support the MELS initiatives with Bill 100. If there is any criticism, it is that it does not go far enough in addressing the needs at the local school level. Only greater autonomy for schools will address that.