Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am sorry to belabour this point, but what I am talking about here is communicating the policy direction. The policy direction we are going to go despite lamenting low attendance and low achievement rates is to cut instructional hours, and here is why. That is the kind of detail that parents want. I think they appreciate that there is another level of decision-making at the school that will decide how to implement this policy direction, but they want to hear the policy direction from the department. They don't want to hear it from me, and they don't want to hear it from the media. They feel like their best source of information is directly from the agency or the department that is responsible for implementation.
I feel like there is a real re-think that needs to be done here about who the audiences are for the department's messages, and to think about getting as close to the people most directly affected as possible. That is not to put this onto the school boards, but to talk directly to parents and students. I would like to think that, while the efforts are ongoing, they may also take a new and productive direction. Thank you.