Hanover parent starts petition in support of school trustees

A parent in the Hanover School Division has started a petition in support of local school trustees, who are under fire after a controversial board meeting on April 2nd. 

Nathan Wiebe is listed as the person who started the petition, and he wrote on his Facebook page, “I read on SteinbachOnline about the complaint of the HPAD group has made directly to the Minister of Education against our Hanover School Division's Trustees, calling for their termination and more. 

"Now I try to stay away from politics, but this is about our children's futures. Hanover is a GREAT school division. They have been great for our kids because they still align with old school values more than other school divisions in Manitoba. 

"Now I'm not saying that inclusivity is a bad thing in schools, but calling for trustees to be fired and calling them "bigots" and "racist" is down right disrespectful.” 

The Education Minister has been asked by the Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity (HPAD) to disqualify six trustees claiming they have violated provisions of the Public Schools Act. 

Under section 39.6(1) of the Public Schools Act, a trustee will be disqualified from holding office if the trustee is found in violation of any provision of the Public Schools Act. 

What happened at that meeting? 

The school board heard from a parent who asked trustees to create gender-neutral washrooms and change rooms instead of allowing students to use the rooms for the gender they identify with. 

Members of HPAD were present at the meeting and took issue with the language used by the presenter, referring to a gender diverse student as “biological female,” and that Board Chair Brad Unger allowed such a presentation to continue. 

In its letter to the minister, the alliance also wrote about three motions that were voted on at the end of the meeting. 

Trustee Shayne Barkman presented all three motions, which took an hour to discuss and vote on. 

The first motion was Seconded by Trustee Dallas Wiebe ‘that all music and gym teachers be hired the same way the vice principals are hired.’  This was carried 5-4. It means that school trustees will now hire all teachers for music and physical education in all 19 schools in the Hanover School Division. 

In the days after this motion was approved, Kevin Martens, President of the Hanover Teachers’ Association, told Steinbach Online that many Hanover teachers are concerned about this move. He noted that there is provincial legislation that outlines how school boards are to hire administrators and those administrators are to be tasked with hiring staff.  

The second motion Barkman presented was for board members to see a list of all applicants for employment within the division.  

“I move that trustees are able but not obligated to see the list of applicants that initially apply for each employment position in the Hanover School division,” he stated. “My rationale for this motion is to improve the transparency in the communities that we serve.”  

Barkman added that having access to this information would be helpful in ensuring they are “making the best decision possible every time we hire.”  

After some discussion, the motion was amended to state, ‘that trustees are able but not obligated to see the list of applicants that initially apply for each principal and vice-principal position in HSD.’   

This motion was seconded by Dallas Wiebe. It was defeated with 5 votes against, 4 votes in favour. 

Barkman then made a third motion, which was Seconded by Trustee Dallas Wiebe, ‘that HSD teaches the Grade 7 sensitive issues the same way it was taught prior to school year 2020-2021.’    

If this motion had passed, it would have meant that Grade 7 sensitive issues would have been taught in classrooms where students would have been separated by gender. 

This motion was defeated with 5 votes against, 4 votes in favour. 

After the meeting, the parent alliance started a petition at change.org, stating that “In 2023, two Hanover school board members were present and actively supporting the anti trans and anti queer “One Million March for Children” in Manitoba.  These board members and almost half of the Hanover school board have been planning anti queer, anti trans and anti Indigenous school board policy and practice that will harm Hanover students and staff. On April 2/24 the Hanover board chair and several board members allowed and thanked a transphobic parent to present an oral and written presentation against trans and gender diverse students to not use the change room that aligns with their gender who also called for no trans women staff in girls change rooms.” 

HPAD also submitted a document to Education Minister Nello Altomare on Thursday, April 25th, filing an official complaint against Board Chair Brad Unger, Vice Chair Jeff Friesen, and trustees Shayne Barkman, Lynn Barkman, Cheryl Froese and Dallas Wiebe, claiming that “Two of the trustees acted in bad faith with their presence as public officials at the ‘1 Million March for Children’. All of them have entertained, endorsed, and/or voted in favour of discriminatory and illegal motions. We have every reason to believe that more inappropriate actions and motions will follow. With their actions, the above-named Trustees have failed to meet their duties as outlined in the Public Schools Act.” 

At time of publication, 1193 people signed the petition. Here are some reason people gave for signing this petition.

Change.org/Stop Discriminatory Steinbach/Hanover School Board Members

 

Change.org/Stop Discriminatory Steinbach/Hanover School Board Members

Change.org/Stop Discriminatory Steinbach/Hanover School Board Members

Change.org/Stop Discriminatory Steinbach/Hanover School Board Members

In the counter petition, in support of the trustees, Wiebe wrote, “As a resident of Mitchell and a parent with children in the Hanover School Division, I standby our elected Trustees. I have seen firsthand the dedication and commitment our elected Trustees put into ensuring that our children receive the best education. They consistently make policy decisions that reflect the ideologies of the local residents. Our trust in them is evident as Hanover School Division continues to attract large numbers of new students every year. 
 
However, recently there has been a complaint made by HPAD (Hanover Parents Alliance for Diversity) to the Minister of Education. Their views do not represent residents here as a whole. We need to show our Minister of Education that we stand firmly behind our elected Trustees and their decisions. After all, we elected them.” 

At time of publication, 3542 people signed the petition. Here are the reasons some people gave for signing this petition.

 

Change.org/Support Hanover School Division's Elected Trustees

Change.org/Support Hanover School Division's Elected Trustees

Change.org/Support Hanover School Division's Elected Trustees

Change.org/Support Hanover School Division's Elected Trustees

SteinbachOnline is waiting to hear back from the Hanover School Board following its review of the complaints, and from Education Minister Altomare following his review of the letter.