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LETTER: Community voice matters at the DSBN

There is a newly developed evaluation policy for directors
dsbn-offices
District School Board of Niagara Offices. Photo Google Maps

ThoroldNews received the following letter to the editor from Nancy Beamer, DSBN trutee for Pelham/Thorold, set the record straight regarding a false rumour about the board director being fired:

On Jan 22, the District School Board of Niagara held its first working meeting of the new year. It was an interesting and somewhat controversial meeting as those of us who are new to the board learned the correct procedures for bringing forward ideas we would like to see implemented. 

After the meeting, there was an article in a local newspaper (not this one) that has unfortunately led to a false rumour that the director of our board had been fired. I wish to state unequivocally that Mr. Hoshizaki has not been fired and that he has the support of most of the trustees.

Just as education has evolved over the last decade, so too have the regulations governing the role of school board trustees. Most people are familiar with the problems the York School Board has experienced in the last few years. As a result, that board has been under Ministry scrutiny to be sure they are on the right track. One thing they did was to develop a policy by which to evaluate their director.

St. Catharines Trustee Kate Baggott is our delegate to the Ontario Public School Trustees’ Board Association. At the first meeting she attended, the York Board representative offered its newly developed evaluation policy to any board, ours included, for review and use. By checking our bylaws, Trustee Baggott realized that the DSBN did not have an official written policy for director evaluation.

According to the Education act, one of the jobs of the trustees on a school board is to evaluate their director on a yearly basis. Trustee Baggott wants to ensure that we, at the DSBN, have a properly written evaluation tool that will be a standard guide for this process for the present trustees and for those who come after us. 

The fact that we are upgrading DSBN policies to stay in-line with government regulations is just that. No other implications should be made. We are doing the job that you, the public, elected us to do, and we will continue to do to the best of our ability.

Nancy Beamer
DSBN trutee for Pelham/Thorold