HALIFAX: As a new school year gets underway in Nova Scotia, the NSNDP will introduce legislation today to reinstate school boards in the province.
“When the Liberals eliminated school boards in 2018, they also eliminated the opportunity for parents, staff and students to be engaged in decision-making about their schools at a local level,” said N.S. NDP Leader Claudia Chender.
“They deserve to be able to ask questions and understand how decisions are being made about what’s happening inside our schools.
“Reinstating school boards would also mean reinstating accountability and transparency for everyone in the school community.”
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Democratically elected school boards were dissolved by then-Liberal Education Minister Zach Churchill in 2018.
The Houston Conservatives promised to bring them back during the 2021 election, but abandoned their promise three years later with no justification.
In recent years, concerns have mounted over rising violence in Nova Scotia schools.
Earlier this year, an Auditor General’s report revealed that incidents of school violence have increased by 60 per cent over the past seven years.
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N.S. NDP Education spokeswoman Suzy Hansen said the NDP remain extremely concerned about the level of violence in schools.
“Parents, teachers and students deserve to have a voice and be a part of the discussion on how this issue will be addressed,” said Hansen. “Elected school boards give families and communities a real voice in how decisions are being made that affect the school community.
“As a former school board member and as a parent, I know that school boards are deeply missed.”
The NSNDP legislation would seek to establish a committee to design the reintroduction of the school board model, and have school boards in place by September 2025.
