The Board of Trustees of District School Board Ontario North East is cautiously optimistic after a recent dialogue with Minister of Education, Mitzie Hunter.

At their regular meeting on November 1st, trustees voted to suspend the Board’s Capital Planning process, complaining of a lack of communication and consistency after a request for funding for a new school in Temiskaming Shores was rejected.

A conference call between Linda Knight (Director of Education), Doug Shearer (Board Chair), Bob Brush (Vice-Chair) and Hunter was held on December 1st. A meeting was also held on December 2nd in conjunction with other northern Board representatives. The results of these discussions were revealed during the inaugural meeting of the Board on Tuesday, December 6th.

“We had a productive dialogue about the Capital Plan and the impacts created when information on critical issues is released to the press by Ministry staff without prior knowledge of school boards,” commented Chair Doug Shearer. “The Minister was open to hearing our Board’s concerns. We are hopeful of positive results on these issues in the future.”

Trustees will meet at the Schumacher Board Office to revisit their Capital Plan discussions on January 11th.

On December 2nd, the Chair and Director of District School Board Ontario Northeast participated in a separate meeting with the Minister in Toronto. The meeting, hosted by the Ontario Public School Board Association, focused on concerns surrounding low graduation rates across northern Ontario.

“There were representatives from Public Boards across the North both personally present and on teleconference at the meeting”, stated Shearer. “Once again, the Minister was very engaged in the discussion and concerns raised by Board representatives. The Minister took extensive notes on several issues. We hope to see progress made in the coming months in relation to these concerns.”

“The Minister was very open and engaged in both dialogues,” added Director Linda Knight. “We have every confidence that words will be translated into positive actions in the coming months”.

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