Changes to Nova Scotia school governance expected, education minister says

The Nova Scotia provincial government is set to take another look at its school governance policies, which point to a broader “community” focus.

Nova Scotia Education Minister Becky Druhan told Global News that changes could come in the coming weeks, which aim to “maximize local voice.” The changes come as students are set to return to the classroom Thursday morning.

A survey was sent out to parents, some school staff and members of the community looking for feedback on the model as it stands. A freedom of information request obtained by the Nova Scotia NDP provided to Global News outlined a number of complaints about the system in that survey.

Some of the responses were:

• “Bring back school boards. Parents have no idea who to contact in the system for support.”
• “Reinstate school boards. Someone designated to go to, to feel heard on a local level such as a school board member.”
• “Bring back school boards so we can have someone to be our voice.”
• “Bring back school boards. Having info go straight from EECD to the RCE’s keeps decisions political and lessens local voice as RCE folks are the employees of EECD, so the hierarchy limits meaningful local feedback.”

Claudia Chender, the Leader of the N.S. NDP said on Wednesday that the school system in Nova Scotia has changed rapidly in the past five years.

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education believes there have been nearly 8,000 new enrolments in education in the past five years, with enrolment daily. Chender believes that the changes are overdue.

In 2018, Chender was told by the then-education minister that the responsibility of complaints of the school system would fall on the local MLA’s. The Dartmouth South representative noted that many of the MLA’s representing their districts may not have the full preview of the school system and solutions in the pipeline.

“We need to have an eye on our schools, and nobody can do that better than an elected body of school boards,” told Chender.

“It’s now clear that their own engagement says that it’s required.”

Five years ago, the Liberal government adopted all 22 recommendations included in a report by consultant Avis Glaze, which looked to change the education system “for the better” and improve student success.

The initial phase saw the province move on 11 recommendations, including the elimination of the elected boards. This meant boards were replaced by a single appointed provincial advisory council.

Later in 2021, the Nova Scotia PC Party had committed to re-establishing school boards, updating school curricula to include topics like financial literacy, diversity and environmental stewardship, carrying out all recommendations of the 2018 Commission on Inclusive Education report, and creating new grants for schools to buy tools that support healthy lifestyles.

Druhan could not comment on the specifics of the changes.

— with files from Elizabeth McSheffrey and The Canadian Press

2:00 Nova Scotia has no plans to create policy for gender identify in schools