June 30, 2009 (Catholic education, Catholic schools)

By Kevin Debnam

Back in 1958 a little girl walked across the wet concrete footings for the new Catholic elementary school in Red Lake Ontario. As the concrete dried, her footprints remained in the foundation of the new school.  Without knowing it, she left a mark on St. John’s School that would last for the next fifty years.  Who would have thought that sometime later this same child would return to the school as an adult and in the capacity of Board Secretary Treasurer.  A position she would hold for twenty-three years.

Her tenure ends with the amalgamation of the Red Lake Area Combined RCSSB with the Kenora Catholic District School Board on September 1, 2009.

She, along with many other Board Secretary Treasurers, is the most vulnerable of the employees transferred over to District School Boards.  It seems ironic that the people who have provided the greatest amount of administrative support and direction to the small schools in their respective communities are the ones with the least amount of protection.  Where and how will they fit into existing board administrative structures and what will happen to their homes, families and friends as a result of amalgamations?  I know for a fact that each of these individuals has pondered these same questions countless times every day since the Ministry announcement of June 1, 2009.

There is a human side to the amalgamation story I wish to convey and the profound impact it is having on the people of the Catholic School Authorities of Northwestern Ontario.

The governance and administrative structures of School Authorities are truly “one of a kind” in this part of Ontario.  So too are the personal and professional qualities and characteristics of the good people who serve in these structures. Trustees and administrators alike have to be flexible and considerate in order to accommodate the unique geographic and time anomalies that define the region.  In Northwestern Ontario, distance is not measured in kilometers, time, or tanks of gas.  It’s measured in oil changes.  For example, three road trips from Thunder Bay to Red Lake or six to Atikokan equals one oil change.  Actually we apply the same formula to windshield replacement.

We cross two time zones here in Northwestern Ontario (Eastern Standard and Central).  So when it’s 2:00 pm in Thunder Bay, its 1:00 pm in Red Lake and, depending on the time of the year, it is either 1:00 pm or 2:00 pm in Atikokan.  Atikokan does not go on Daylight Saving Time while the rest of the region does.  Setting regional meeting times is always a challenge for us.  The first questions we ask prior to determining agenda items is “How’s the weather and what time is it there?”  Once again, flexibility and consideration mark personal and professional interaction here in this unique part of the province.

Although the distance between and among Northwestern Ontario cities and towns is considerable, so to is the community commitment to and support for the local Catholic schools that dot its landscape.  For the most part, trustees, administrators, principals and teachers have lived most of their lives in these single school communities.  Trustees represent an authentic cross-section of the community.  They are dentists, deacons, retired chiefs of police, health care workers, grand parents and working moms with many coming from a few terms on the local school council.  They have a deep sense of pride for their community school and know every part of its physical structure, every staff member and, in some cases, almost all of the children.  Trustees, principals and board administrators are on duty “twenty-four seven” in a small community.  They are approached by parents at the grocery store, the hockey arena, on snowmobile trails and even after Mass on Sunday.  They appear at almost all school community functions whether they have children in the school or not.  They do everything from visioning, policy development, strategic planning and resource allocation to planting flowers and shrubs around the school and donating time, energy and money to support school initiatives. Through their efforts they have defined and redefined their role and function many times over. They do so because the school and its staff and students represent a unique expression of a long-standing Catholic faith tradition in the community. They celebrate its successes, defend its rights and promote its distinctiveness with a unique blend of passion, humility and generosity.  These are good people doing good things for the educational well being of the children entrusted to the care of the board.  Incidentally, the honorarium for a School Authority Trustee is one-half that of his or her District School Board counterpart.

They, like the little girl back in 1958, leave a collective footprint on the foundation of their local Catholic school.

Many of these schools are “pockets of excellence” in a large and diverse province and their successes are the direct and unmitigated result of a simple yet highly democratic principle that recognizes, affirms and supports local control over the decisions that impact a local community.  Our faith tradition refers to this as subsidiarity and designates it as a foundational principle of Catholic social justice.  Simply stated, subsidiarity maintains that political power should be exercised by the smallest possible unit of governance.  It’s a principle that has worked well for over fifty years in the Catholic School Authorities of Northwestern Ontario.  The following example demonstrates how well, and to what degree.

In 2007-08 the Atikokan RCSSB ranked third across the province in Grade 3 Reading and fourth in Grade 6 Reading.  Their composite score (Reading, Writing and Mathematics) gave them a provincial rank of seven.  This rank was seventeen points above the provincial average.  The achievement augurs well for the local control of education.

Once again, another set of footprints in the foundation of quality Catholic education here at the School Authority level.

The unilateral decision by the Ministry of Education to amalgamate School Authorities with District School Boards came as a shock to the people of these small communities.  The decision was conveyed to them by telephone and without any opportunity to either ask questions or to provide input into the crafting of alternative models of governance or administration.  In point of fact, consultation was, and remains, a “non starter” in the decision-making process of the Ministry of Education.  Catholic District School Boards were treated in exactly the same manner.

In addition, there was little or no rationale provided for the decision to amalgamate. Moreover, the mechanism to guide and direct this sensitive and complex task was, and remains, loosely defined by the Ministry as “evolving”.

The people responsible for the governance and administration of Catholic School Authorities and successor Catholic District School Boards deserved so much more from this process.  They were afforded so much less.

And what has been and continues to be the collective response of these organizations to this unfair treatment?  They are working diligently to meet the designated amalgamation timelines set out in regulation.  They have risen above anger, confusion, suspicion and, in some cases, concern for their own jobs, in order to affect a smooth and seamless transition. Moreover, they do this in a highly professional and Christian manner so that the change is least disruptive to their respective local Catholic school community and more importantly, to the children they serve.

Amalgamation will happen.  And it will happen, not by provincial dictate, but rather as a direct result of the strong personal and professional relationships that underpin Catholic education here in Northwestern Ontario.  The process is and will continue to be marked by compassion, justice, truth and integrity.  Transition teams from successor Catholic District School Boards have approached the task with a combination of sensitivity, respect and deep empathy.  It’s a mirror image of the School Authority response to this complex and highly personal task. This combination of personal and professional attributes is what defines the manner in which we govern and administer our small schools here in Northwestern Ontario.  It is the X factor in the amalgamation equation and the overarching operational principle that will ensure a successful transition.

Perhaps we have defined the Ministry of Education’s “evolving” process after all.

Will the children of the schools of Catholic School Authorities be better off after the amalgamation?  If one believes, and has quantifiable proof, that bigger is better, central control over decision-making trumps local control and that this combination somehow translates into higher student achievement scores then this is a good idea.  If not, the dice is being rolled to determine educational excellence in twenty small communities impacted by this decision.  These small communities govern and administer from a different set of believes and practices that, in the case of the Atikokan Roman Catholic Separate School Board and many of her counterparts, demonstrate quantifiable excellence.

The Minister of Education stated that history will judge the success of this initiative. I hope history is kind in her judgment and pray that the footprints left by the Ministry of Education on the foundations of our unique locally governed and administered Catholic schools are as positive, deep and enduring as those left by the little girl from Red Lake over fifty years ago.

Kevin Debnam is a Supervisory Officer for the Red Lake Area Combined Roman Catholic Separate School Board and the Atikokan Roman Catholic Separate School Board.  He is a former Director of the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board.

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