The best way for Catholic school trustees to advocate for their division’s needs provincially is to continue to maintain contact with their area MLAs and build those relationships.
That was the message that the board of education with Holy Trinity Catholic School Division received on Feb. 8 during an online Q&A forum with the MLAs whose constituencies are within the division boundaries. All four MLAs were present, including MLA Greg Lawrence with Moose Jaw Wakamow, MLA Tim McLeod with Moose Jaw North, MLA Everett Hindley in Swift Current and MLA Doug Steele from Shaunavon.
Hindley is also the minister of rural and remote health.
Advocacy efforts
One question posed to the MLAs focused on how trustees could best advocate for their division’s infrastructure needs.
“Through methods like this, or it doesn’t even have to be this formal,” said Hindley. “… we’re open and available to feedback, pretty much any time.”
Hindley has been an MLA for a few years and has worked closely with Holy Trinity and the public division in Swift Current, he added. Sometimes the best thing to do is phone or email to remain updated and build that relationship.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a relationship with most of you in the past, and those that I haven’t met — there’s a couple of you — I would encourage you to reach out and bend my ear any time,” said McLeod, who was the board chair and a trustee for Prairie South School Division.
“I quite enjoy having conversations with folks like yourself and hearing just what your perspectives are, what your needs are, what your thoughts are.”
Trustees have already done a good job of advocating for their division’s needs, said Lawrence. As examples, he pointed to the new joint-use school in Swift Current, the partnership with Prairie South to build a new joint-use school on South Hill, the continued push to renovate St. Margaret School in Moose Jaw and the continued efforts to build a new St. Michael School in West Park.
Education funding
A second question pertained to funding. MLAs heard that Holy Trinity received $1 million in pandemic funding, while its operational funding for this year was maintained at the same level as last year. However, next year, more money will be needed to help students who missed classes or experienced trauma during the pandemic.
The provincial government is creating its next budget and will present the document on April 6 when the spring sitting begins, said Hindley. He noted that the pandemic has affected every ministry and agency equally, with education likely the second-most affected area after health care.
“It’s going to be a different budget year and school year … . We’d be foolish to think that it’s going to be completely, exactly the same once we slowly get out of this thing,” he added. “There will be some lessons learned from this and some things that will have to be changed.”
Importance of local boards
A third question pertained to the importance of having locally elected school boards. It was noted that the governance line in Holy Trinity’s budget has amounted to 0.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent during the past two years.
McLeod said that he was involved in this issue as a trustee and remains a firm advocate for locally elected boards. He pointed out that these groups “are a good pulse control” and better understand what is happening in their schools and communities.
Having locally elected boards also connects well with the Sask. Party’s ideology of smaller, less intrusive government, he added.
Steele, Hindley and Lawrence all agreed that such groups are important and effective. Hindley noted that the province let school divisions develop their own back-to-school plans for September, with many appreciating the ability to give input.
Vaccines for educators
Another question focused on whether the education sector would be given priority to receive vaccines.
The province will give an update soon about the next phase of vaccinations since the plan has changed recently due to a lack of supply, said Hindley. He acknowledged that all four of them have received calls, texts and messages from people about when more vaccines are arriving.
“It is tough coming up with a fair vaccination schedule,” said Steele. “But they have put a lot of effort into making this as far as possible.”
Catholic education
A fifth question pertained to the MLAs’ thoughts on Catholic education and its distinctiveness.
It’s important to remember that Saskatchewan is one of the few places in Canada that recognizes this dual Catholic-Protestant (public) education system, so it should be continued, said McLeod. He pointed out that completing the joint-use school in Swift Current shows that the Catholic and public divisions can collaboratively accomplish things for students.
Education is important since it helps build strong communities, said Steele. It doesn’t matter what type of education system it is since all it takes are strong leaders to meet students’ needs and accomplish initiatives.
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is March 15.
