Mahsi, Mr. Chair. The engagement process obviously started back in November of 2010 when we met with the board chairs and superintendents to discuss this matter in the preliminary stages at that time. There was also a letter directly to the board chairs, as well, the DECs, in January of 2011. So within the next few months from there. There’s also a proposed approach that was discussed with the board chairs and the superintendents as recently as May 2014 and there was no opposition to the changes.
Just last month, a month ago, I also met with the South Slave because they brought up some concerns on the reporting mechanism, and we dealt with that and they were satisfied when we left the community of Hay River Reserve. They did have logistical questions about bringing superintendents into the public service, but we did answer their questions and that satisfied them as well.
The financial cost, obviously it’s been brought up in the committee’s discussion. Not only that but even at the district education council, who is going to be paying for the difference if there is a cost factor once their contract is up and they’re transferred over to public service? I did commit to the standing committee that my department, obviously, will cover the costs. We don’t know what the costs will be at this point because it does fluctuate, but when the contract term is up, then we’ll know for sure and then we’ll cover those costs at that time.
A decrease in funding potentially because a superintendent’s salary is under public service. We’ll continue to provide the financial budget to the district education council because they have to hire or retain a superintendent and they still pay. It’s just a paper transaction that we provide the senior Hay Plan, the salary that’s attached that’s comparable to other senior staff and provide that to the district education council and they’ll continue to provide that to their superintendent. So the budget doesn’t really change in that regard because we’ll be doing it according to the GNWT Hay Plan on senior staff.
The two-tier system has been brought up by the standing committee as well. YK1 and YCS are out of the picture. Not only that but there was discussion about the Tlicho Community Services Agency, as well, because of their uniqueness, a self-governing board. This is an area that obviously has been brought to our attention and by nature, obviously, they’re divided into two different approaches. The staff and teachers of two Yellowknife boards, obviously, the YK1 and YCS are outside the public service. The teachers are not part of the public service, so their superintendents remain outside the public service and they maintain consistency within their organization.
Those are just some of the discussions that we’ve had with the board chairs. The board chairs raised that issue with us, as well, what’s going to happen to us. So, we did raise that issue with them. We’ll continue how we’ve been doing business with YK1 and YCS.
The Member did raise the issue of direct appointments, as well, in the standing committee. There were a lot of options, a lot of scenarios. What if there’s favouritism from the department perspective or the DECs? I did make a commitment to the standing committee that we have to find the best qualified superintendent, preferably Northerners, of course, to be on the DEC. Any appointment process obviously would fall to the government to make that decision. They are recommendations from the DECs.
All these years, the Dehcho Education Council has made the recommendations and I’ve brought that forward, as the Minister responsible, to the government. At the end of the day, the government makes a decision on that. But it’s always been the case where the government made a case and there was support from the DEC, there were no issues over the years. That practice will continue. At the end of the day, my view is that we find the best superintendent as possible with the qualifications and also the experience. The DECs also request that the incumbent superintendents be direct appointed to the positon of superintendent with the public service, so we’ve been dealing with the DECs on this matter as well.
