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Answers sought in principal demotion

To the Editor: Well, here we are at the end of the 2017-18 school year, and still no information or possible fair solution to the unfair demotion of a principal whose teaching career has been so grievously damaged by inaction and lack of transparency

To the Editor:
Well, here we are at the end of the 2017-18 school year, and still no information or possible fair solution to the unfair demotion of a principal whose teaching career has been so grievously damaged by inaction and lack of transparency by our school division administration.
Within our system of governance, particularly at the level of school division administration, there seems to be a feeling of empowerment without accountability. This is most apparent in the case of the Southeast Cornerstone School Division.
In the case of the demotion of the school princicpal of the Weyburn Comprehensive School, it is abundantly clear that the top administrators, including the board chair, feel that any decision reached at that level is to be accepted as the only solution to a situation confronting the division.
While we concede that some of these decisions are made with the best interest of the division in mind, it has come to our attention that in this particular case, the decision to demote was made not in the best interests of the division as a whole, but in the best interests of a few disgruntled parents and the reputation of the division.
In this situation, despite repeated requests, the administration has refused to inform the taxpayers of the division as to the reasoning behind such a quick and damaging decision.
Under the all-encompassing umbrella of confidentiality, the decision-makers make statements like “we know more but we can’t discuss this with you.”
This is a complete disregard for accountability to the electorate who trusted them to make decisions, as above mentioned, in the best interests of the division. What is even more rankling is the actions of the administration to muzzle those employees who find this decision to be unfair, unjust and misplaced.
It is our feeling that the time has come for the taxpayers to be informed, in a non-biased way, the things that occurred and the reasoning behind such a life-altering and reputation-destroying decision, making sure that both sides of the story are fully disclosed. We laud those who come forward to serve the community as board members, however, in this case, we feel that under the direction of the top administrators the board decision wad made without proper consideration and explanation of all the facts, and that the decision far outweighed the supposed crime.
It is disappointing that a situation such as this needs to find a solution in the judicial system, rather than being handled properly from the beginning by administrators and elected officials.
Dave Edgerton, on behalf of taxpayers,
parents and community leaders