Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Chairman, on February 20th the Member for Inuvik made a number of allegations in his statement related to the dispute between teachers at the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School and the Beaufort/Delta Divisional Board of Education, saying that all the facts were not disclosed by the government.
Mr. Chairman, the fact is that the real issue here is not in-service training, the real issue is closing the schools for two and one-half days, two and one-half days when students will not be in school. As I said in my earlier statement, there is a public process for setting the school year, a process that supports the devolution of the responsibility to communities by involving parents through the community education council. This process also involves the divisional boards, and their proposal is then presented to the Minister of Education. This process was followed, and on April 30, 1991, the school year for Sir Alexander Mackenzie School was set at 190 days plus five professional development days. Once a school year is legally established, a school principal cannot then submit a new plan to the community education council which arbitrarily shortens the school year by another two and one-half days. The Inuvik community education council turned down this proposal in November of 1991, and they were quite right in doing so.
The issue is not in-service training, as I stated earlier. I am not surprised that the board or its officials would state their support for in-service training. That is something that we all support. What we do not support is the closing of schools for more than the five days already provided to teachers throughout the year.
The NWTTA appears to be making a distinction between in-service and professional development. The Department of Education does not view these activities as separate things. In fact, article 17.01 of the NWT Teachers' Association collective agreement links the two by referring to "professional development and in-service training of teachers." If we want to talk past practice, Mr. Chairman, I would refer the Member to the fact that board and departmental personnel often provide curriculum in-service training sessions on regularly scheduled professional development days.
The Member alleged that one school in the Beaufort/Delta Divisional Board of Education was closed for a full day in January without any modification of the school year. The school and staff in question understood this was to be one of their five professional development days. I would state further as well that if there are instances where boards allow schools to close for periods beyond the five days allowed, then it should not be happening.
On Thursday, February 20th, the Executive of the Beaufort/Delta Divisional Board of Education met in Inuvik to again discuss the issue. Their position is that the 1991-92 school year adhered to the department's guidelines in providing 190 school days and five professional development days. The approved calendar has no provision to close Sir Alexander Mackenzie School for either in-service training or administration days. Therefore the board does not support closing the school for any additional days.
However, the board and the community education council recognize and appreciate the concerns of the teachers. A plan is being presented to the teaching staff at Sir Alexander Mackenzie School which will meet their needs in providing in-service training but will not require the closing of the school.
So, Mr. Chairman, the request by teachers in Inuvik could be resolved, and I think it will be resolved very quickly. The divisional board has offered a solution, and I believe the teachers are looking at the proposal which the divisional board has put to them.