JANUARY 2018

PUTTING SCHOOLSBACK IN THE HANDS

OF OUR COMMUNITIES

SCHOOLGOVERNANCE

PLAN

The ideas and positions in this document aim to give schools more autonomy so that they can offer better services to students.

Governance problems at school boards and commissioners’ lack of legitimacy have been covered in the news for over 10 years. Unfortunately, as is too often the case, the status quo wins out, and our children pay the price. However, governance reform for this network represents a solution to many structural problems that afflict the Quebec education system, such as wait times for services for our students and the lack of latitude and flexibility for our schools and school staff.

We must not back down from any obstacle or lobby if we want to offer Quebec children the best possible education system. Their future depends on it. The future of Quebec depends on it. A responsible government must make decisions not for future elections but for future generations. This begins with putting schools back into the hands of their communities.

Jean-François Roberge

FORE-WORD AUTONOMOUS SCHOOLS

FOR BETTER SERVICES

1. DECENTRALIZETHESYSTEM...................................5

1.1. ABOLISHTHESCHOOLBOARDS ANDCREATESCHOOLSERVICECENTRES................................5

1.2. ELIMINATESCHOOLBOARDELECTIONS....................................6

1.3. HAVETHEMINISTRYOFEDUCATION SETTHESCHOOLTAXRATE.............................................................6

1.4. INCREASECONTROLFORGOVERNINGBOARDS...................7

2. PROFESSIONALSERVICESEVERYWHERE...........8

2.1. CREATECLEARGUIDELINESONMINIMUM PROFESSIONALSERVICESINALLQUEBEC SCHOOLSBASEDONSTUDENTNUMBERS ANDPROVIDEADDITIONALFUNDING WHERENEEDSAREGREATEST.......................................................8

2.2. GIVEDECISION-MAKINGPOWER TORESOURCEALLOCATIONCOMMITTEES...............................8

2.3. CONDUCTIN-DEPTHREFORMOFTHESTUDENT OMBUDSMANTOCREATEATRULYINDEPENDENT ANDAUTONOMOUSBODYTHATPROTECTS ALLSTUDENTSINAREGION............................................................9

2.4. ROLEOFSCHOOLPRINCIPALS.......................................................9

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PUTTING SCHOOLS BACK IN THE HANDS OF OUR COMMUNITIES

More than ever, we believe that schools must belong to their neighbourhoods. The members of a community are the people best equipped to determine the needs of their schools and defend the interests of the students in those schools.

So that all students can reach their full potential, we must create a system that gives schools more autonomy and that harnesses the expertise of the staff in those schools.

Made up of administrators, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and representatives from the local business, arts, recreation and community sectors, governing boards will be the main decision hubs for these community schools. With this approach, Quebec will finally have an education system that makes people-focused decisions.

“Quebecwillfinallyhave aneducationsystemthat makespeople-focused decisions.”

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1PART

DECENTRALIZE THE SYSTEMAlthough one goal of decentralization is to reduce the number of administrators who do not provide direct services and to lighten bureaucracy, the ultimate goal of this fundamental transformation is to improve student services. The inefficiency of our current governance model in education limits the ability of school principals to act, creates a barrier to services for our students, and prevents teachers from exercising their professional autonomy. This cannot continue.

1.1 ABOLISH THE SCHOOL BOARDS AND CREATE SCHOOL SERVICE CENTRES

Over the years, school boards have become mini-governments within the government. The goal is to transform them into school service centres, or organizations whose mission is to support schools instead of directing them from a distance. We have a responsibility to allow teachers, professionals, support staff, and principals to express their creativity and energy. We also have a responsibility to offer a stimulating educational environment that

is conducive to the development of every child in Quebec. The school boards have become an obstacle to these goals.

Fewer and less costly school service centres will become integrated with the Ministry of Education. Their mission will be to provide administrative ser-vices and facilitate school management as much as possible.

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1.3 HAVE THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION SET THE SCHOOL TAX RATE

As school service centres will replace school boards, they will be responsible for collecting school taxes. To reduce their administrative costs, they could eventually work with and delegate this responsib-ility to municipalities in exchange for service fees.

Like any fiscal measure, school taxes must be overseen by an elected official. Eliminating school commissioners, who are elected by a miniscule percentage of the population, and handing over the school tax to the Ministry of Education will increase the democratic legitimacy of this process.

1.2 ELIMINATE SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

This proposed transformation will bring about an important change in mission for the network’s dif-ferent levels of governance and would definitively eliminate the position of school commissioner. It will end expensive school board elections that lack real democracy, considering their poor participa-tion rates.

From the outset, school principals will gain more autonomy. Many of the checks and balances currently conducted in school boards and at the Ministry will be eliminated.

By giving more power to governing boards, the decisions that affect a school will be directly in the hands of the people who work there and the people who are highly devoted to their communities.

This transformation will apply to and greatly benefit both of Quebec’s language school systems. In this new model, the parents from the Anglophone community will keep their right to manage and control the educational institutions where their children are instructed.

The governing boards are currently made up of elected officials. Parents, teachers, professionals, and other staff members therefore get a seat on their school’s governing board by being elected by their peers. People from the business, arts, recreation, and community sectors are elected by cooptation. People sitting on the governing board will be called upon to play a bigger role.

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1.4 INCREASE CONTROL FOR GOVERNING BOARDS

A responsible government must heavily invest in education and entrust more money to each school’s governing board so that every class has the materi-als and resources to meet student needs.

Heavy bureaucracies inevitably become self-per-petuating and exist just for the sake of existing. In a cumbersome system like ours, announced budgets all too often end up sitting in the coffers of the Ministry or school board for months, which caus-es endless delays for services or renovations. Only a paradigm shift supported by a major structural reorganization can free our schools to reach their potential. The time has come to rethink the place of schools in Quebec society.

A responsible government must have the courage and political ambition to up-end the power pyramid in the education system to put schools, students, and teachers at the top of the structure.

To support the people who will devote themselves to managing their schools, we must ensure that governing board members have the proper training to fulfill their roles. The new importance of the governing board in each school will encourage its members to invest more in the development and future of their school. Across Quebec, we want important school decisions—such as how to allocate budget surpluses, arrange schedules, plan homework help programs and lessons, and organize a wider variety of extracurricular activities—to be made by and for the community of a neighbourhood school for the benefit of its students.

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2PART

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES EVERYWHERE

2.1 CREATE CLEAR GUIDELINES ON MINIMUM PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IN ALL QUEBEC SCHOOLS BASED ON STUDENT NUMBERS AND PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING WHERE NEEDS ARE GREATEST

Access to early screening and professional resour-ces is crucial to childhood development. All schools must have the minimum required services, while fi-nancial resources must be allocated where needs are greatest. Additional funds must be granted to schools with special classes dedicated to the integration of immigrant children according to the community and region’s social and economic characteristics. We must also aim for nothing less than hiring hundreds of professionals—resource

teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, psycho-educators, guidance counsellors—across Quebec.

The real fight to keep students in school begins with a multidisciplinary, well-equipped, and qualified school team that is backed by support staff. For many years, we have been asking for these teams to be created as quickly as possible.

2.2 GIVE DECISION-MAKING POWER TO RESOURCE ALLOCATION COMMITTEES

To avoid turf wars between schools in the same region and ensure decisions are made by actors on the ground rather than administrators disconnected from student realities, it is imperative that the resource allocation committees be at the heart of regional decision-making for the education system.

Resource allocation committees already exist. They are mostly composed of school administrators and are only advisory, meaning they only have the power to make recommendations. We must there-fore strengthen the roles of these bodies by giv-

ing them the decision-making power to determine needs at the regional level. They will seek to en-sure equity between all schools in a region and will make decisions about resource sharing and project complementarity.

It is through the resource allocation committees that we will create a supportive and complement-ary school system. The goal remains for all students to have access to the services that they need. The whole system must work towards this goal.

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2.3 CONDUCT IN-DEPTH REFORM OF THE STUDENT OMBUDSMAN TO CREATE A TRULY INDEPENDENT AND AUTONOMOUS BODY THAT PROTECTS ALL STUDENTS IN A REGION

Each school board must have a student ombudsman who acts as a complaint mechanism. As these ombudsmen report to the school boards, have no real power, and only have jurisdiction over students in the public system, they currently have very limited means to fulfill their role.

A national student ombudsman must be named by the National Assembly, and a representative of this authority must be assigned to the region of each school service centre. This body will be responsible for receiving complaints from parents and majority age students. This ombudsman may also deal with complaints about school transportation, school choice, access to required professional services, or the handling of cases related to the fight against bullying.

After receiving the complaint, the student ombuds-man must issue an opinion that, depending on its nature, will be sent to either the school administra-tion or the school service centre.

A copy of this opinion must be automatically for-warded to the Minister. If the opinion of the student ombudsman is not taken into account, the person in charge must justify this decision in writing to the Minister.

The student ombudsman that we propose here is a fundamental part of the new decentralized system that we want for Quebec and will be its “guardian angel.”

2.4 ROLE OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

Right now, schools function like branches of the school boards. Too often, principals cannot fully exercise their leadership because they are subject to their school board’s administrative requirements. For us, school principals must not simply be school board employees; they must be the captains of their own ship.

We want schools to develop their own person-alities. By putting principals at the helm of their schools and giving them the means to reach their ambitions, we will free schools from the shackles that currently restrain them.

Miracles in education do not fall from the sky; they are the result of interactions between students, parents, and stakeholders. We deeply believe that, when directed well, a school that works as a team can make all the difference in the environment and life of its students.

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1.

ABOLISH THE SCHOOL BOARDS AND CREATE SCHOOL SERVICE CENTRES

2.

ELIMINATE SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

3.

GIVE MORE POWER TO GOVERNING BOARDS

4.

PROVIDE SUFFICIENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IN ALL SCHOOLS

5.

GIVE DECISION-MAKING POWER TO RESOURCE ALLOCATION COMMITTEES

6.

GIVE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS INCREASED ADMINISTRATIVE POWER

7.

ESTABLISH AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT OMBUDSMAN AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL

7 WAYS TO PUT SCHOOLS IN THE HANDS OF THEIR COMMUNITIES