NLIS 2
May 16, 2001
(Education)

Minister gives reasons for amendments to Schools Act, 1997 (Bill 8)

Education Minister Judy Foote outlined the rationale for proposed amendments to the Schools Act, 1997, which would increase public accountability of school boards for the expenditure of nearly a half billion dollars.

"The decision to move forward with amendments to the Schools Act, 1997, was not taken lightly. Bill 8 was drafted in response to criticism from the auditor general and advice from the departmental solicitor," said Minister Foote.

The minister explained that the amendments are proposed because school board budgets have not been submitted on time (many of which have been and some continue to be in a deficit positions), because of the manner in which some boards have expended taxpayers' dollars provided by government, and because the employment contracts of senior school board officials, in several cases, have exceeded the levels of salaries and benefits approved under the Schools Act, 1997. These problems were identified in reports by the auditor general over the past several years and noted by Drs. Len Williams and Ron Sparkes in the final report of the Ministerial Panel on Educational Delivery in the Classroom.

The minister noted that the ministerial panel report recommended that responsibility for appointing people to executive school board positions be removed from boards and that such appointments be made by cabinet (recommendation 65). "Government decided not to proceed with the panel's recommendation 65 and what has been proposed in Bill 8 is a compromise," said Minister Foote.

"Under current legislation, if school boards don't comply with the law, the only recourse available to me is to withhold funding to school boards or to dismiss the boards after the fact. To withhold funding from school boards would simply punish students and not address the problem. To dismiss school trustees after the fact would be counterproductive. Therefore, I have proposed the compromise position contained in Bill 8," said Minister Foote. "Attempts over the past few years to deal with the actions of some school boards have not met with success. Clearly, there must be accountability for the expenditure of taxpayers' dollars and these amendments to the legislation are the way to ensure it."

"In several instances, school boards have entered into contracts which contain salaries and benefits in excess of those allowed under the Schools Act, 1997. Again, the only option available to me is to dismiss school trustees. The proposed amendments would require boards to receive prior written approval of the minister before entering into a contract of employment for directors and assistant directors. This would ensure such employment contracts comply with the legislation," said the minster. "School board trustees will continue to hire and evaluate the performance of board executive staff," she added.


"The role of the Department of Education is to provide the resources and set the guidelines by which public education is delivered in this province. The role of the school boards is to expend those resources in the hands-on delivery of education to our children in the classroom. The proposed amendments to the Schools Act, 1997, will ensure a collaborative approach between the boards and the department in handling this province's educational resources from the outset, rather than punitive after the fact," added the minister.

Media contact: Andrea Maunder, Communications, (709) 729-0048.

2001 05 16                                        9:00 a.m.