February 23, 2009 (Catholic Education, Catholic Schools)

Gwen Keith, Superintendent with the Yellowknife Catholic School Board declared “on Wednesday, February 18, 2009, we were victorious!  MLAs heard us and made our concerns and issues loud and clear to the Premier. Board Reform is set aside for now, but we will wait cautiously for the Premier’s decision to see what will actually happen next.”

In the fall of 2008, without any consultation the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) declared that it was going to amalgamate the Ministries of Social Services, Education and Housing into one department effectively creating just one school board for the whole of the NWT.

On February 18^th teachers from all over the NWT gathered in Yellowknife for a professional development day, something that has not happened in “modern times”.  At the same time both the Public and Catholic Boards of Yellowknife chose to stage separate protests by organizing marches on the legislative assembly.  The Catholic board gave permission to its teachers to leave the association conference to protest if they wished.

While Keith declared victory, the Yellowknife District One (Yk1)Public School Board chair was more subdued stating “”We are cautiously optimistic that the government will take the advice of the motion and really start again.”

The motion which was put before the assembly and passed read:

In an interview by phone Catholic Superintendent Keith said, “The notion of the Regional Board Concept was now off the table”. Keith went on the say that the government “had no data, and no research upon which to support their proposal.” She added, “What might have seemed reasonable for a small remote community, didn’t fit for a city like Yellowknife…one size doesn’t fit all.”

Keith admits that the government will still be looking for future “efficiencies” and that changes may still occur to “board structures” but that the motion included a promise to bring boards into the consultation process.

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