Adviser’s work at scrutinized Steinbach school division will last ‘as long as it needs to’: minister

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Peggy

The province has appointed a special adviser at a southeastern Manitoba school division’s board of trustees, which recently faced criticism from parents for giving itself the final say in hiring some teachers.

Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare told CBC News on Tuesday that he’s appointed Kelly Barkman as a special adviser to the Hanover School Division’s board of trustees.

Barkman, a retired superintendent of Winnipeg’s River East Transcona School division, is an experienced senior administrator from southeastern Manitoba and knows the area well, Altomare said.

The move comes months after a group of parents in the Hanover School Division, who call themselves the Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity, wrote a letter to Altomare in April to call for the removal of six of the board’s nine trustees.

The parents alleged a new policy approved by the board earlier that month — which gives trustees final say when hiring any gym and music teachers — is discriminatory and an attempt to reduce the number of diverse and 2SLBGTQ+ staff in Hanover.

Altomare, who previously said he urged the school division board to reconsider a new hiring policy, said the hiring policy wasn’t a factor in Barkman’s appointment.

However, he did say a goal of Barkman’s involvement with the school board would be to ensure it continues to “be really effective at creating safe, inclusive schools for all members of their community,” and Barkman’s term as special adviser will be active “for as long as it needs to be.”

A man wearing black-rimmed glasses and a suit and tie is pictured. — Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare says intervening at a school board is a decision that is never taken lightly by the province. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

Altomare said the board will remain autonomous during Barkman’s appointment as special adviser.

“There’s been some turnover there — high turnover at the trustee level, and some turnover at senior administration — and we just want to provide some support to them as they continue the important work of supporting their community.”

Hanover school board chair Brad Unger said Barkman’s appointment will be discussed at a Tuesday night board meeting but offered no further comment.

Trio of interventions

Barkman’s appointment marks the province’s third intervention at a school board this year.

In January, Manitoba Education hired a consultant and ordered a financial review of the Seine River School Division, located just south of Winnipeg, after the board projected a $5.8-million shortfall by the end of the 2023-24 school year.

In April, the department ordered a governance review of the Dauphin-based Mountain View School Division, after trustee Paul Coffey gave a board meeting presentation in which he said the residential school system began as a good thing and that the term “white privilege” is “racist.”

The province later appointed a three-person oversight panel to Mountain View in June. The review is still underway as of Tuesday.

Sandy Nemeth, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association, said she’s not surprised by Barkman’s appointment.

“It’s not unusual, except to the extent that there’s been three situations [like it] in the recent past,” she told CBC News on Friday.

Hanover “seems to be struggling” with the difference between its work, which involves governance and oversight, and the division’s operational work — such as hiring teachers — that is typically handled by superintendents, Nemeth said.

A woman in a button-up shirt and glasses speaks as groups of people mill about behind her. — Sandy Nemeth, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association, says she supports Barkman’s appointment as long as it means that Hanover ‘will function well and cohesively as a school board, representing everybody that is in their community.’ (Travis Golby/CBC)

Nemeth sees the appointment as the province offering the board “support, guidance and expertise to help them do the work that they need to do.”

She said she supports Barkman’s appointment as long as it means that Hanover “will function well and cohesively as a school board, representing everybody that is in their community.”

Altomare said stepping in at a school board is a decision that is never taken lightly by the province.

“We want to make sure that we support school boards in doing the good work that they do in their community, and these advisors will help them get there,” he said.

However, Progressive Conservative education critic Grant Jackson said Barkman’s appointment shows that the NDP government is “talking out of both sides of their mouth when it comes to school divisions in Manitoba.”

“They were some of the loudest supporters of school board autonomy while in opposition, but now that the NDP are in power, they’ve decided school divisions can only make decisions they agree with,” he said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.