Community group considers next move in Shellbrook teacher controversy

“A reversal of decisions related to staff transfers is not being contemplated at this time,” he said, quoting a correspondence he received from the board.

It’s extremely important that everyone … write your letters _{– Bruce Clements}

Asked what the group’s next moves would be, Clements said the committee and perhaps a larger group of citizens would probably meet soon “to decide on other steps we can take that would be positive and constructive at this time.”

The committee of four people features Clements, who is a retired educator, two members of the local chamber of commerce, and a student.

Over the last week Clements has appealed to the community to write letters to the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division (SRPSD).

“I think it is extremely important that everyone, including parents and students, write your letters,” Clements wrote in a report following the group’s meeting last week with SRPSD Director of Education Robert Bratvold. “I delivered six of them to Mr. Bratvold after our meeting. They are very crucial in making an impact on him. Numbers count.”

According to Clements, who is also a town councillor, the committee raised the point that rural teachers should be treated differently to urban ones when it came to transfers as small towns needed to retain educational talent to remain strong and viable.

Much of the community anguish has also centred on the teachers in question not having been treated with respect when they were informed of their transfers, according to Clements. The division’s policy allows for a teacher to be moved elsewhere once they’ve served five years in a particular location. However, the group’s interpretation of the policy is that the teacher will have a one-on-one sit down conversation with administration beforehand. They claim proper discussions did not happen.

Clements adds the committee has learned teachers have a three-step opportunity to appeal the transfer decision through the human resources superintendent, director of education, and then the school board. There is also an avenue of appeal though the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.

The procedure is applied to both rural and urban teachers equitably _{– Robert Bratvold, SRPSD}

paNOW reached out to Bratvold for comment following his meeting with the committee.

In an email he reiterated it was difficult to comment because sharing personal information about individual staff members was not appropriate for the division “even if that teacher has shared his or her information with others.”

Bratvold stressed Clements and the committee, did not represent teachers but rather community concerns. He could not comment if the decision to transfer the teachers could be reversed, nor if the news of their transfer had been conveyed to them in a respectful way. He could also not say what, if any next steps there may be regarding the situation.

Bratvold said the division had a long standing procedure for transferring teachers that “applied to both rural and urban teachers equitably and is helpful in supporting the staffing and learning needs in all of our 32 schools.”

Bratvold admitted as a division they needed to do a better job of ensuring people understood the opportunities for discussions with administration about a transfer “are provided in various ways, well before the transfer is determined.”

He also clarified a key procedure as outlined in the division’s policy.

“The one-on-one discussions that a principal has with a staff member when the transfer is determined is about how the teacher can be supported in the transfer,” he said.

—

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow

by Glenn Hicks

Community group considers next move in Shellbrook teacher controversy

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