Real World Politics
There's been this issue facing my mother for a while now, and she tends to talk about it a
lot at home. As I think I've mentioned before, she is the board chair of Parkland School
Division #70. They just had one mother of a debate, and it sure took a lot out of my mom. If
you don't mind, I'd like to pass on the particulars of this issue to you, in the hopes of getting
some outside opinions on what went on. All the information I give you I got through my mother,
so naturally there'll be some bias in my reporting. (Aren't you glad I was up front about my
bias, rather than claiming to be neutral like some journalists?)
Let me present the tale of two cities. A city and a town, actually. We have the City of
Spruce Grove; a city roughly the size of Camrose. Just five minutes down the road, there is the
Town of Stony Plain; a town about 3/4 the size of Spruce Grove. They both reside in Parkland
School Division #70. Now, a few years ago, some disturbing statistics were released to the
public. The French Immersion program, as a whole in the province of Alberta, has declining
numbers. Parkland School Division felt that, with these declining numbers, something should be
done to strengthen the French Immersion program. A study was commissioned, and a year and a
half was spent studying the problem. Right there, the Parkland School Division earned kudos.
Most other school divisions in the province just arbitrarily made decisions about their French
Immersion programs with no studies. A good case study is the Battle River School Division.
When faced with these declining numbers, they went and axed the French Immersion program
altogether, with no consultation with the people. But I digress.
When the study was completed, the recommendation was made to the school board.
Three schools offered French Immersion: two in Spruce Grove, one in Stony Plain. The
recommendation was that the French Immersion program should be consolidated at one school.
One of the schools in Spruce Grove offering the program was best equipped to handle the great
influx of students, and so it was chosen to be the French Immersion School. The
recommendation passed through the board with a clear majority. I think it went unanimously,
but my mother's not here to confirm that. This was heralded as a great idea. The board was
behind it. The people of Spruce Grove were behind it. The majority of Stony Plain was behind
it. One of the most prominent French Immersion supporters in Stony Plain stepped forward and
said "this is the right thing to do." One of the most prominent French Immersion lobby groups
in the province stepped forward and said "this is the right thing to do." But....
For reasons unbeknownst to me, this did not sit well with the principal of the Stony Plain
French Immersion school. He felt it was a bad idea. When this decision was made public, there
was a handful of parents at the Stony Plain French Immersion school who objected to putting
their kids on the bus for five minutes a day, when they could just walk to school. So, an
opposition group began to form. A very loud, very mean, opposition group. They started
publicly badmouthing this decision. They took out full page ads in the local paper protesting
this decision. It wasn't long before they won over one of the trustees on the school board. Now,
this trustee started whining and complaining about the bad decision this board made, and she
conveniently forgot the fact that she voted for this "bad decision" in the first place. She whined
and complained so much, that a motion to reconsider was put on the agenda for the next board
meeting.
When that board meeting came, the opposition group mounted a large protest. What I
always find ironic is that they pulled their kids out of school for the day to help protest. To show
support for the school, they pulled their kids out of the school. Another thing I find funny is that
there were also twice as many pro-protesters that day. So, when the meeting came, the
opposition group presented their evidence to keep the French Immersion program in Stony Plain.
It wasn't new evidence, though, and it was stuff that the board had already taken into account.
With no new evidence, the motion to reconsider was denied, and the amalgamation was set to
begin, with the French Immersion school in Spruce Grove opening in September. As far as the
board was concerned, this issue was now done. But, the opposition didn't see it that way.
The principal of the Stony Plain French Immersion school refused to begin amalgamation
procedures. The parents stepped up their protest, making it meaner and nastier. They threatened
to pull their kids out of the French Immersion program. This would mean that there would not
be enough kids at the French Immersion school in the fall, and the program would die quicker.
At this time, the opposition circulated a "fable," portraying the board as bunch of reactionary
nitwits who were anti-French, and didn't know the whole story. So, let me get this straight. The
board spent a year and a half studying this problem. The opposition spent a week studying the
problem. And the board didn't know the whole story. The fable was written anonymously, but
the author claimed to be instrumental in ending slavery in the American south and freeing
Nelson Mandela. At first, this fable was only mysteriously stuffed in the mailboxes of the
school board trustees. The trustees ignored it. It then appeared in the newsletter of the Stony
Plain French Immersion school, thus making the board the laughing stock of the community.
But this was nothing compared to what was in store.
Remember that one trustee who sided with the opposition? Well, she did something that
all her fellow board members considered a traitorous act. She called up the Minister of
Education, said the board was dysfunctional and should be disbanded. I don't know how well
you follow school politics, but this is THE most serious charge you can place on a school board.
Now, the Minister of Education was involved.
The Minister determined that the board wasn't dysfunctional, but still felt it proper to
conduct a review of this decision, seeing as to how it had "so much opposition." The Minister
sent out an expert to conduct the review. From day one, it was felt that this expert's review was
biased. Firstly, he only met with the opposition. After meeting with just the opposition, he felt
that the board had erred, and was prepared to make his report. After much pleading and
cajoling, he met with the members of the school board. But, his mind wasn't swayed. Now, I
know I'm still a novice to politics, but don't you think this report felt a little one sided? If I
didn't make it clear, his report said that the board had made the wrong decision.
Then came the big meeting with Minister. The Minister gave them two options: either
the board could reverse their decision and remain in control of the school division, or he could
reverse the decision for them, and pretty much run the division himself. The board chose to
remain in control, and begrudgingly reversed their decision. That school in Stony Plain gets to
keep their French Immersion program.
So, what's the aftermath? Well, the principal of the Stony Plain French Immersion
school will probably be losing his job for his little insurrection. Plus, the English-speaking
families in this school feel alienated over how this principal sacrificed all to save this minority
of students. The opposition group is beginning to turn on each other. The author of the fable
was uncovered, and legal action is being sought. That one trustee who sided with the opposition
has pretty much alienated herself from the rest of the board and has gone into hiding. And
Mom? Well, Mom just feels bad because she was doing the right thing, and a select few felt it
was wrong. Suddenly this reminds me of the "moral" of an episode of The Simpsons: if you
don't get your way, just keep whining and complaining until you do. All this, simply because a
select group of parents objected to a 5 minute bus ride. I want to call this a tyranny of the
minority, but feel I would be a little extreme in saying that. All the board wanted to do was
strengthen the program, and a select few just didn't want to stick their kids on the bus. So, the
program remains week, but no one has to ride the bus.
Oh, and do you want to know the final irony? The French Immersion school in Stony
Plain is a dying school, and will probably have to be closed within the next three years for lack
of students.
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