Ontario school trustees have been engaged in heated debates in the last few weeks. Some boards have even called extra meetings to address the matter.
One might think that trustees were responding to the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s recent “Right to Read” report, which was a devastating critique of the ineffective reading strategies currently being used in Ontario schools. After all, teaching students how to read is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of our education system.
Unfortunately, improving reading instruction wasn’t the focus of these extra meetings. Instead, trustees across the province are far more concerned about the loosening of public health restrictions. Specifically, many of them oppose the province’s decision to end the mask mandate in schools.
During a special meeting, Hamilton-Wentworth District School trustees voted to defy the province and keep its mandatory mask rule in place until at least April 15. Meanwhile, Toronto District School Board trustees decided to write a letter to the provincial government asking for mandatory masks to remain in place.
These discussions have taken up a huge amount of time. For example, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board recently held a two-hour special meeting about masks. Trustees narrowly voted against going it alone with their own mask policy, although they did write a letter to the province requesting a four-week extension of the provincial mask mandate.
However, had these trustees paid attention in their high school civics courses, they would know that healthcare is a provincial responsibility and not the responsibility of school boards. Furthermore, it makes no sense for school trustees to usurp the professional judgment of public health experts. Trustees are not experts in health care.
Sadly, this is far from the only time that school trustees strayed outside their own lane. In far too many cases, trustees are getting bogged down by issues that aren’t worth their time.
For example, trustees in the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) decided last year to review every single book in school and classroom libraries. The ostensible reason behind this initiative was to ensure that students are not exposed to harmful content.
However, reviewing every single book in WRDSB schools is a herculean task that will take hundreds of hours of staff time. Not only that, but the WRDSB chair recently embarrassed himself when he condemned one of his own teachers for raising concerns about the sexual content contained in some books in elementary school libraries.
WRDSB trustees wouldn’t be in this mess if they had asked themselves whether it really was necessary to open this can of worms. The last thing teachers and administrators needed was another make-work project from trustees eager to bolster their progressive credentials.
Even more egregiously, TDSB trustees recently commissioned a report into one of their own members for allegedly breaching their code of conduct. This trustee’s “crime” was criticizing anti-Israel propaganda being distributed by one TDSB teacher. Fortunately, while the report recommended that this trustee be censured, a narrow majority of trustees voted to reject the report’s conclusions.
There are many things wrong with this scenario, not least of which is that any TDSB teacher would think that anti-Israel propaganda belongs in school. By investigating this trustee, who happens to be Jewish, for breaking the code of conduct but not doing anything about the blatantly anti-Israel propaganda being distributed among staff, TDSB trustees have demonstrated that they cannot see the forest through the trees.
It should come as little surprise that many school trustees use their position as a stepping-stone for higher levels in politics. This is why so many municipal, provincial, and federal politicians get their start in politics by serving as school trustees. By involving themselves in issues outside the domain of education, trustees are obviously raising their profile and positioning themselves for their inevitable move into higher political office.
Our schools would be much better served if the people we elected to govern them stayed focused on their primary responsibilities. Improving classroom instruction, hiring and supervising excellent teachers, procuring high-quality textbooks, providing efficient transportation, and upgrading aging facilities are all important things that are worthy of every trustee’s time and energy.
Anyone who can’t stay focused on education probably shouldn’t become a school trustee in the first place.
