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Principals have one year to decide whether to stay in NSTU: N.S. education minister

Nova Scotia Education Minister Zach Churchill speaks during a press conference in Halifax on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press

Nova Scotia’s education minister has given principals in the province’s schools a year to decide whether they will remain in their current roles, or go back to teaching in classrooms and stay in the teachers’ union.

Zach Churchill made the announcement on Thursday, reinforcing his previous decision that principals and vice-principals would be removed from the province’s teachers’ union, as recommended in the report prepared by education consultant Avis Glaze.

“[The year] will give them more time to consider their options before they make this important decision,” Churchill said in a statement, saying he had come to the decision after speaking to teachers on a weeklong tour of the province.
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READ MORE: Nova Scotia teachers to hold strike vote

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Glaze’s report was released last month and gave 22 recommendations, including the removal of principals and vice-principals from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) and into a new professional association.

The report recommended establishing an education ombudsperson to investigate and resolve concerns or complaints in the education system.

It recommended scrapping all of the province’s English school boards in favour of a single “aligned model.”

Glaze also called for a provincial college of educators to license, govern, discipline and regulate the teaching profession.

In January, Churchill said the province would implement all of the report’s recommendations.

WATCH: Teachers union gears up for fight against N.S. government

Click to play video: 'Teachers union gears up for fight against N.S. government'
Teachers union gears up for fight against N.S. government

NSTU response

NSTU president Liette Doucet says she is unhappy with the decision.

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“In essence, the government’s position has not changed,” Doucet said in a statement.

“Teachers are not prepared to allow Stephen McNeil do to our school, what he has already done to our hospitals.”

Doucet says that she did talk to Churchill before Thursday’s announcement, and while she was pleased to have lines of communication remain open, she’s disappointed with the decision.

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