Contentious Issues continue to surface at the Bluewater School Board Meeting

Feature

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New Board Chair, Jennifer Yenssen (C) with Education Director, Mary Anne Alton (L) & Trustee Jan Johnstone (R)

Recently appointed Chair of the Bluewater School Board Trustees, Jennifer Yenssen, officiated over her first board meeting Tuesday (April 21) and it appeared that contentious issues are not about to go away any time soon.

Deviating from the agenda, there were two 'without-prior-notice' delegations and three, 'with prior notice'.

The first part of the public portion of the meeting was taken up largely with board congratulations to a number of people and 'feel good' topics, while the delegations were allowed only five minutes (timed) each to present their concerns.

The first two deputations were parents who, again, reiterated the lack of transparency and communication between the Board, Senior Administration and the parents, students and teachers, that have been raised of late.

The first, Dan Wong, besides being a parent, is also the SCC (Student Council Chair) for Walkerton. He pointed out that, in order to have good communciation, there has to be respect and civility and he, too, was concerned at the lack of communication with parents.

Secondly, Karen Cameron, who also spoke at the last board meeting, presented the position of the recently formed Bluewater Citizens' Group.

Dave Mason, a former leader of the T.R.A.I.L. program

The three 'with prior notice' delegations actually consisted of two main speakers, Dave Mason of the Association for Bright Children of Ontario and a former head of the T.R.A.I.L. (To Realize Advanced Independent Learning) program and Joe Greico.

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22/04/2009 12:45 AM

The third delegation was a unique presentation by Joe Greico who supported his deputation with a video clip of Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, speaking about the listeria breakout. Greico compared a large company, such as Maple Leaf Foods, to the Bluewater School Board drawing many similarities between them.

Once again, it seems that parents are not about to abandon their concerns and are not only making deputations but have also begun making recommendations for the record.

The Saugeen Times will present each delegation at the meeting, separately in order to ensure all of their points are covered.  Our coverage will continue over the next few days.