Panel to oversee western Manitoba school board after trustee resignations, removal of superintendent

The provincial government has appointed a panel to oversee a western Manitoba school board that has been shaken by controversy.

Education Minister Nello Altomare says the three-member panel will ensure the Dauphin-based Mountain View School Division is focused on student learning and well-being, with an eye on diversity, inclusion and reconciliation.

One of the trustees was widely condemned in April, when he said at a board meeting that residential schools started as a good thing and that the term “white privilege” is racist.

Earlier this month, the school division’s superintendent was removed and three trustees resigned.

The province launched a governance review of the board, which is still underway.

Altomare says that while provincial law gives him the power to dissolve the board, it’s not a step he’s considering right now.