Who does Pembina Hills Public Schools answer to?
Is it you, the taxpayers who fund it? Maybe it’s the parents whose children attend its schools? Could it be its teachers and the union which represents them? How about the provincial government, which outlines how education is administered in Alberta?
It’s a question we’ve bandied about following the Page 1 story in this week’s Westlock News. Our community is so small that by now we’re sure you’ve heard about the teacher at Barrhead Composite High School and R.F. Staples who’s been charged with three counts of sexual exploitation. This editorial isn’t about the case — until a judge renders a verdict there’s nothing further to say.
No, what struck us is how the division has handled the news.
We didn’t learn about the incident from Pembina Hills as our information came from a Jan. 26 RCMP press release. As of Jan. 30, the school division has not posted anything regarding the teacher, the incident, or its response online, although a photo of the man was still on the BCHS website Jan. 27 and one still remains, albeit a little hard to find, on the R.F. website as of Jan. 30 … oops.
An e-mail was sent to parents at R.F. Staples, which we have seen, but to be honest beyond the first line that reads, “In keeping with our commitment to open communication between our school and parent community … ” it offers little in way of any open communication and goes on to describe general policies and procedures.
If we were a parent, we’d want to know what classes this man was teaching — to know whether our child had been in contact with him and also to know if their class schedule could be affected. We’d also like to know if he’s still allowed to teach, or if he’s been suspended. Pembina Hills won’t say.
“That’s a level of detail I will not provide the newspaper and it speaks to that particular piece on protecting his individual privacy at this point,” said Supt. Colleen Symyrozum-Watt when asked by us to identify which classes the man taught, or how long he has been with either school.
We wholly support protecting the identity of the victims. But for Symyrozum-Watt to champion the protection of the man’s privacy at this point is absurd and wholly moot.
The RCMP have already released his name and his age, while a simple Google search reveals a wealth of further information. So, who does Pembina Hills answer to? We’re still not entirely sure.
