Local School Boards are giving mixed opinions on the Manitoba K-12 education review.

The commission for the review has been traveling between communities offering conversation-based sessions for parents, teachers, and anyone interested.

“I had heard that there would be some round table discussion, and that is exactly what is taking place,” comments Hanover School Division Chair Ron Falk.

Falk attended the public consultation held at the Pat Porter Centre in Steinbach last week Tuesday and felt the event went very well. He says was encouraged by the variety of dialogue happening around the room and feels the eclectic range of topics are what will make the review effective.

Meanwhile, Seine River School Division Chair Wendy Bloomfield has been to two of these public consultations and says she was not a fan of the way they were designed. She calls the formatting “awkward” and feels it will be nearly impossible for the commission to synthesize the information into usable data.

“It might work for some people,” offers Bloomfield, “but I am not sure how they will be able to take this information and translate it into a workable document that makes sense.”

Bloomfield says she was also disappointed to see that the majority of those attending the events were school staff. “I don’t know that there were any general members of the public in the groups that I was in. It was predominantly teachers and educational assistants.” She acknowledges that educational professionals are the most interested in the coming changes, but feels a greater public presence would balance out the conversations. 

In addition to that, Bloomfield is concerned that the commission may be holding a loose agenda of their own.

“Typically, what we are hearing, is that there needs to be more money and I’m not sure that’s the answer the commission is actually looking for. There is a feeling that their underlying cause is to get rid of boards or drastically amalgamate boards or cut funding.”

Bloomfield indicates that amalgamation and funding have been the two topics most thoroughly discussed in the meetings she has been at. It seems to her that divisions across the board are calling for more money and hope to preserve their independence.

While Falk does not believe the commission has any motives besides improving provincial education itself, he agrees with Bloomfield on the hot topics.

“Everyone is very concerned about there own divisions, everyone is concerned that if the divisions get larger there will be a decrease of local input and parental input and that in the end there will be no input.”

Ultimately, Falk feels the review is heading in the right direction towards identifying problems and moving forward. Bloomfield is a bit more skeptical but says she too will maintain a cautious optimism as it is high time Manitoba’s education is put under the microscope.