Manitoba education minister says department to look into controversy at Hanover School Division

Manitoba's education minister is calling the Hanover School Division's board of trustees to his office after a group of parents in the Steinbach, Man., area raised concerns about a new hiring policy for some teachers.

The Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity called for the removal of six trustees from the school division's board in a letter sent to the office of Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare.

The letter, which contains allegations CBC has not independently verified, is dated April 25. 

It alleges a new policy approved by the board on April 2, which gives trustees the final say on the hiring of any gym and music teachers, is discriminatory and an attempt to reduce the number of diverse and 2SLBGTQ+ staff in the division.

Altomare wouldn't say whether he sees the new policy as discriminatory, but he did say boards have to make sure schools are safe and inclusive spaces.

"We'll be meeting with them this week to have some dialogue and see where they're at, and to ensure that they're following what their responsibilities are under the Public Schools Act," he told CBC on Monday.

Altomare says although the education minister has the power to remove trustees, that's not the route he wants to take.

"We want to work with school boards," he said.

"We want to have a fulsome dialogue, and move forward with the foundational piece being student safety and inclusivity in public schools in Manitoba. That's their number one job as trustees."

Hanover School Division board chair Brad Unger told CBC in an emailed statement Monday that the board appreciates the opportunity to meet with the education minister. He had no further comment.

The Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity's letter to Altomare also cited two other motions introduced and defeated at the division's April 2 board meeting.

One initially called for trustees to be notified of all applications for all positions within Hanover School Division, but even after being revised to only include applicants for principal and vice-principal jobs, the motion wasn't approved.

Another motion that didn't pass called on students to be separated by gender to receive Grade 7 sex education curriculum, the letter to Altomare said, calling it "harmful and exclusionary to any students who don't identify with the debunked concept of a gender binary."

Neither a video recording, nor the minutes of the April 2 meeting, were available on the division's website, which contains previous meeting minutes, as of Monday afternoon.

The letter sent to Altomare alleges the trustees have failed to meet duties outlined in the Public Schools Act to ensure students have a safe and caring school environment and to establish a policy concerning respect for human diversity.

"Both of those [motions] were defeated, and it looks like [the board] did their work," Altomare said Monday.

The education minister says he wants to hear the board's perspective before making any decisions.

"I need to meet with them first and then understand [the] next steps moving on."

Opposing petitions

The Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity also started an online petition in addition to their letter to Altomare, which garnered support from more than 1,200 people.

However, a different online petition backing the board of trustees in light of the controversy has more than 4,000 supporters.

Nathan Wiebe, a parent from Mitchell, Man., started the petition. He says the board was elected and they trust the decisions trustees have made.

"I didn't realize it was going to blow up like this," Wiebe told CBC.

"I honestly just started it to show them that we support them and what they do."

For Michelle McHale, the controversy brings up old memories.

About seven years ago, McHale filed a human rights complaint against the Hanover School Division over concerns of discrimination against LGBTQ families.

She says she was disappointed when the complaint was closed last year.

Her children have since aged out of the school division, but McHale says she supports the parents who wrote the letter to Altomare.

"We trust the people who are hiring to make good selections … [so] why have these two positions been removed in this way?" McHale told CBC.

She sees the minister calling a meeting with the board as a good first step, but says more oversight is needed when similar issues arise.

"Who helps the board with those decisions when they have blind spots or gaps that they don't understand?" McHale said.

"There needs to be conversations, and we need leaders who set the tone about what's acceptable and what isn't."