New education policies from the Sask. Party government are on the horizon as the province looks to start the legislature early on Tuesday to invoke the notwithstanding clause and push through their policies.
But with these policies come fear and confusion, as Saskatchewan Teachers Federation president Samantha Becotte said many teachers and parents have shown concern about how this will impact students, particularly the most vulnerable.
“We want to ensure that classrooms are safe and caring learning environments where all students are welcomed and feel safe to express themselves,” Becotte said.
Former education minister Dustin Duncan announced back in August new education policies that would require parental permission if a child under the age of 16 wanted to go by a different name or pronouns.
The policies also require parents to be informed about the sexual health education curriculum and parents will have the option to have their child opt out of those classes.
Lastly, the policies called for school boards to stop their involvement with third-party organizations connected with sexual health education as the ministry reviewed educational resources.
Only teachers and professionals employed by government ministries or the Saskatchewan Health Authority would be able to present sexual health material.
Many organizations contested these policies, with a Saskatchewan judge granting an interim injunction and Premier Scott Moe vowing to use the notwithstanding clause to override that injunction and make sure the policies were put in place.
Becotte said she doesn’t see why there’s a rush to implement these policies, adding there’s an underlying message that comes with them that teachers are also concerned about.
“It’s this false narrative that is being spread by the government that teachers can’t be trusted, and that teachers aren’t professionals and aren’t doing what is best for kids.”
Yorkton’s school division sent out leaflets back in September debunking myths about what takes place in the classroom — one of the stranger myths being the claim that students are allowed to be “furries” in school and are able to use litter boxes instead of washrooms.
“We are hearing these misconceptions from various sources including social media platforms, community forums, and in some instances, direct communications with concerned individuals,” said Quintin Robertson, representative for Good Spirit School Division, back in September.
Yorkton’s school division isn’t the only school dealing with these kinds of rumours, with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association saying back in September that other divisions are dealing with the same kind of misinformation.
Becotte called those narratives conspiracies, adding that the underlying message around the pronouns policy felt similar.
“I just see it as a tactic from this government to mislead the public about the realities of public education.”
She speculated whether this was possibly an attempt to further privatize the education system in the province.
Saskatchewan’s education system allows for independent schools to receive government funding if they meet certain criteria, falling under the label of Qualified Independent Schools.
The Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre was also created recently as the province’s newest Crown corporation, offering students a means to access school courses remotely through that corporation.
“We have seen that trend here in Saskatchewan.”
Becotte said the government is creating different education options and has created legislation for further options, “and then sowing those seeds of division and undermining the public’s trust in public education.”
She said public education is the best option for this province, noting it creates future success for all kids, rather than creating a system where there are haves and have-nots.
As a parent, Becotte said she worries about what her children’s experience will be in the public education system 10 years down the road.
Looking forward to the implementation of the new education policies, Becotte said teachers haven’t had much direction from school divisions or the Ministry of Education, noting it has many worried.
She said the policy to pause all third-party presentations regarding sexual health education was fairly clear, but added even that has created further questions about what qualifies for sexual health education.
“Teachers have asked me, what is considered sexual health education? Is it Science 9, that talks about reproduction, which includes contraceptive techniques? Those science topics, are those considered sexual health? Is it the healthy relationships conversation, and consent conversations?”
Becotte said there’s still a lot of confusion around those guidelines, which she added have not been provided to teachers by school divisions.
She said school divisions are in a position where they have to take a close look at their policies, adding that many current policies will contradict these new upcoming ones.
“Many school divisions across the province have policies around supporting student learning that involves including or engaging with organizations in the community. They have policies around creating safe and caring learning environments.”
She said this leaves teachers in a difficult position of not knowing what the correct thing to do is.
Becotte said some teachers are questioning whether they should be following the Ministry of Education and school division, or upholding child student rights.
Part of Duncan’s announcement was that parents would now be allowed to have their kid opt out of sexual health education, but Becotte said that’s always been an option.
“It has always been in place, it’s in division policies.”
She said it’s also regular practice for teachers to update parents on what is going on in the classroom, noting she would reach out to parents, letting them know when they’d start trigonometry and when the assessment dates were.
“I get a newsletter from my children’s teachers on a monthly basis as well as I get updates throughout the month on what’s happening in the classroom.”
Becotte said she hasn’t seen a single teacher in the province push parents away, noting they welcome conversations with them.
“It’s part of our professional responsibility to communicate home with parents.”
She said there are still some major concerns regarding public education in Saskatchewan that people should be worried about, but added that these new policies aren’t aimed at solving them.
“We have a near crisis in many of our divisions due to chronic underfunding that continues to happen and we have a lack of resources and supports despite the messages that we’re hearing from some of those political leaders, whether it’s the minister of education or the premier of this province, that say students will be wrapped in supports. Those supports in many areas of this province do not exist.”
The Sask. Party had said that with the new pronoun policy, supports would be available for kids to get them to a point where they feel comfortable coming out to their parents if they say they don’t feel comfortable getting parental permission for different names or pronouns.
Global News reached out to the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, but it said due to the matter being in front of the court, it couldn’t comment at this time.
Global News also reached out to the Ministry of Education for comment regarding the education policies and was directed to comments Premier Scott Moe has previously made regarding the issue.
Moe claimed that these education policies will create clarity for parents and teachers, as well as build a more responsive education system.
When asked why more consultation wasn’t done with experts regarding child impact or legal experts regarding the legislation, Moe said a lot of discussions happened between MLAs and parents.
He said there is an opportunity within a short period of time for the government to look at the existing supports in place for students, adding they’ve been looking at things like rapid access counselling services.
Moe said school divisions are working on their implementation plans.
When asked about what sort of guidelines schools have received regarding the pause on third-party organizations presenting sexual health material in classrooms, the province added a statement.
“It was directed on Aug. 22, 2023, that boards of education must immediately pause involvement with any third-party organization connected to sexual health education as the ministry undertakes review of educational resources to ensure alignment with curriculum outcomes,” the government said. “Only teachers, not outside third parties, will be able to present sexual education materials in the classroom. This directive does not include professionals employed by government ministries or the Saskatchewan Health Authority.”
“There were no changes made to the curriculum as a result of the new policies. Sexual assault prevention education will continue to be taught by teachers as part of the curriculum,” the statement said.
— with files from Global News’ Brooke Kruger