WQSB

School boards gearing up for Bill 94 fight

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / April 15, 2025 / Bill 21, Bill 94, Chelsea, English school board, Fatemeh Anvari, hijab, Religious symbols, Trevor Greenway, Western Quebec School Board, WQSB

By Trevor Greenway

While English school boards across the province are celebrating a key victory with Bill 40, another fight is brewing over Bill 94, the province’s extension of Bill 21 that restricts public servants from wearing religious symbols on the job. Bill 94 will extend the law to include all staff and volunteers – including janitors, after-care staffers, volunteers and librarians – from wearing religious symbols at work.

Bill 21 had a significant impact locally in 2021 after a Chelsea teacher, Fatemeh Anvari, was banned from her Grade 3 classroom for wearing a hijab. The case reignited the debate around Bill 21, and the controversial law is now headed to the Supreme Court of Canada for a constitutional challenge.

Labadie told the Low Down that the WQSB is hesitant to agree to the bill, as it contains language that could later be used against the school board when Bill 21 heads to the Supreme Court.

“There’s a lot of language in that bill that if we adopted it as a code of ethics for staff and teachers, it would show that we supported Bill 21, and that we agreed with the policies,” said Labadie. She added that the WQSB lawyers are now parsing through the bill before the board signs off.

“The last thing we wanted to do was to have this language that was embedded in these blanket laws that we were supposed to adopt as a board to then be used against us.”

Singfield said the extension of Bill 21 is an attack on the school board’s policy on inclusion, equity and diversity.

“We speak about the importance of honouring the integrity of our diverse population,” Singfield told the Low Down. “We speak about inclusion, we speak about equity and not as things that we check off on boxes on a list, but rather things that we want to cultivate as pillars of our community.”

The legislation would also prohibit Muslim girls from wearing a full-face veil. The bill states that students will be obliged to “have their face uncovered when they are on the premises placed at the disposal of a school, a vocational training centre or adult education centre or a private educational institution.” The bill would also restrict parents from wearing face coverings when picking up their kids from school.

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WQSB schools combatting verbal aggression in class

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / February 27, 2025 / Aggression, Outaouais, Western Quebec School Board, WQSB, Zenith Wolfe

by Zenith Wolfe

Local Journalism Initiative

As Canadian school teachers and staff continue to grapple with verbal aggression in classrooms, several Outaouais school boards are taking action with anti-violence weeks and regional committees against classroom incivility.

In 2024, the Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire (FPSS-CSQ) surveyed over 5,000 Quebec school staff to determine how often they were abused during the 2023-2024 school year. A third of respondents reported at least one instance of physical abuse, while around 40 per cent were subject to verbal or other non-physical abuse, such as shouting, offensive comments or intimidation. Ninety per cent of staff who reported abuse that year said students are the main instigators, the survey says.

George Singfield is director-general of the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB), which oversees 31 schools, adult education centres and vocational training centres across the province. He hesitates to speak about an increase in verbal aggression at his schools, but says he’s witnessed an increase in verbal aggression from all Canadians over his 38-year education career.

“In 1985 when I started as a teacher, did I see students who were verbally aggressive? Absolutely,” he says. “Where I see the difference is that it’s become more of a thing in our society.”

“Schools are a microcosm of society,” he continues. “The message we don’t want to give is that it’s okay to be verbally aggressive.”

According to a 2024 Brock University study that compared student behaviours from fall 2019 and 2022, school children are also becoming less civil in classrooms. Forty-two per cent of surveyed teachers said they witnessed students interrupting each other, texting during class, arriving late or packing up early. This is up from six per cent before the pandemic.

The WQSB director general says their schools are taking proactive measures to prevent aggression, such as ongoing anti-bullying campaigns. Singfield also met with Quebec Ministry of Education representatives in mid-February to discuss their upcoming anti-violence week, taking place from March 17 to 21. Singfield could not provide specifics on the event because it’s still under discussion.

WQSB chairwoman Joanne Labadie says these kinds of events help remind parents about their schools’ strict anti-violence policies.

“I think that if you look at our data, our schools are very safe and there are very few incidents. But it’s always something we should keep on our radar to address when they come up,” Labadie says.

Employee assistance and counselling resources are also available to all WQSB staff members who are verbally abused, Singfield says.

“It’s part of their job to deal with all kinds of situations, but staff shouldn’t deal with it alone. The last thing we want to do is leave a staff member feeling isolated,” he says.

The Centre de services scolaire des Draveurs (CSSD) founded a regional committee in fall 2024 to combat uncivil classroom behaviour. Though the WQSB is not a part of this committee, Singfield says he’s informally discussed it with CSSD representatives.

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WQSB cuts $1.1M from budget

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / February 8, 2025 / Quebec Education Ministry, School budgets, Trevor Greenway, Western Quebec School Board, WQSB

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

The head of the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) says he isn’t worried about the $1.1 million he is being forced to cut from his budget, but he is concerned about how another round of expected cuts this spring will affect students.

WQSB Executive Director George Singfield told a group of school board commissioners Jan. 28 that while the plan to cut more than half a million dollars in salaries, plus another $500,000 elsewhere won’t affect students this year, he doesn’t see how the school board can cut more without disadvantaging students.

“We could all make the argument that everything that we’re doing – this meeting – should be impacting students, frankly, indirectly, in a different way than standing in front of a classroom in front of students,” Singfield said during a public school board commissioners meeting Jan. 28. “However, there’s an impact, and so how do we minimize that impact?”

Singfield continued. “And as we are asked to cut more, that becomes more challenging and difficult, and hopefully it won’t be as bad as some people think it will be, but we turn on the news, whether it’s French media, English media in Quebec, you’re hearing about cuts everywhere. This is not exclusive to education. This is everywhere.”

The WQSB cuts are part of the Quebec Education Ministry’s effort to cut $200 million from its overall budget by March 31, and while Singfield praised his commissioners for finding savings in things like caretaking contracts, salaries and board training, he worries about where to make future cuts.

His commissioners presented a detailed financial plan during the meeting, where it was revealed that the $1.1 million reduction this year is a “one shot” savings, meaning they can’t cut the same amount from their budget every year. According to commissioners, recurring savings will only amount to approximately $361,000 every year.

“The concern is going to be if the government comes back in April and says, ‘By the way, now here’s round two,’ and then if we come back in September and they say, ‘Here’s round three,’ and then come back again and again. I hope that doesn’t happen, but I would be very, very surprised if we don’t see more cuts coming.”

Part of the challenge, according to Singfield and his commissioners, is that the province’s mandate to slash budgets came with the caveat that the cuts couldn’t affect students. And if you look at the list of cuts, it’s nearly impossible to imagine that these changes do not affect students.

Half a million in salaries is being cut; a school psychologist won’t be replaced and the school board is losing its important lunch program for low-income students.

“We require a lot more help than we used to,” said Lord Aylmer school commissioner Cathy Goldsbrough during the meeting. “We need psychologists, sociologists, we need all kinds of people involved because the schools are raising a lot of the children. It’s not just a family situation in many cases. So we need a huge support network.” She suggested that commissioners each write a letter to the Ministry of Education to show how future cuts would have a “dramatic” impact on students.

“As taxpayers, and everyone here is a taxpayer, these are services that are essential,” she said. “They’re not philosophical.”

WQSB Commissioner chair Joanne Labadie questioned the Quebec government’s priorities, namely in its 2024 fall economic statement, in which politicians announced a $22 billion deficit and an additional $2 billion investment to “address the housing crisis.” She argues that housing, health, and education all fit together.

“When you increase housing to address the housing crisis, education and healthcare go hand in hand,” said Labadie. “It’s fine to build new homes, but new schools and new education infrastructure and healthcare services come with it.”

Singfield said while the cuts are challenging, they only represent less than one per cent of the school board’s overall budget.

He said he sees it as an “opportunity” to become a more efficient school board. However, there’s a limit to the services his school board can cut, and they’re close to that limit already.

CAQ MNA for Gatineau Robert Bussiére did not return the Low Down’s calls for comment.

WQSB Budget cuts by March 31

More than half a million dollars in salary cuts
$182,000 reduction in caretaking contract fees
$65,000 reduction by cleaning exterior windows every two years instead of annually
$200,000 reduction in not hiring four professionals for half a year
$30,000 reduction by not replacing a school psychologist who is on extended leave
$31,900 reduction in training and travel costs for staff

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School board elections integral for parents

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / September 26, 2024 / Bill 40, Child's education, National Assembly, Quebec Premier Francois Legault, Trevor Greenway, WQSB

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

If ever there was a time to become involved in your child’s education, it’s now.

With the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) elections coming in just over a month, English rights advocacy groups in the province are calling on parents to run for a position and show the government how important it is to keep control of their own school board.

Bill 40 was passed in the National Assembly in 2020 and with it came abolishment of French school boards, which were converted into school service centres. While the CAQ government tried to extend the bill to English school boards in the province, a superior court ruled last year that major elements of Bill 40, an act that amends the Education Act concerning school organization and governance, are unconstitutional.

Quebec Premier François Legault has vowed to appeal the decision, making this year’s school board election more important than ever.

“Oh, my God, it’s so important,” said Quebec Community Groups Network director-general Sylvia Martin-Laforge. “Parents have to get involved, not only for the education of their children but also because the English school board system is an institution of the English-speaking community, and we have to show the government of Quebec that we – as parents, as grandparents, as community members – value that the governance of our school boards remains in the hands of committed, English-speaking, community individuals.”

Martin-Laforge said that keeping control of English education will mean that school board commissioners will not only fight to keep control but also fight to preserve and protect the “uniqueness” of English education in Quebec. She said those who run for school board commissioner roles will have more influence on curriculums, budgets and other important aspects of education.

“The parents are the direct line, for sure, and have to keep school board officials on their toes to really reflect what is needed in an English-speaking public system,” said Martin-Laforge. She also noted that, while Bill 40 targets public education, parents also need to keep tabs on postsecondary policies, as legislation, such as Bill 96, now Law 14, adds extra French courses to students’ course loads at English CEGEPS.

“Remain politically active in the English-speaking community,” she said. “It’s about the governance of our institutions. It’s about interference in government and how we want our children to be treated throughout the continuum of education.”

What does a school board commissioner do?

The WQSB director-general George Singfield was quick to point out the difference between the school board’s council of commissioners and a governing board member. The governing board is made up of an equal number of parents and staff members, while councils of commissioners are voted in through an election. School board commissioners do not have to be parents to run in the election.

Singfield said commissioners control everything from budgets and curriculums to school expansion and other financial projects.

“We just adopted the budget for our board, but it has to be approved by the council of commissioners,” said Singfield. “They adopt the budget, they approve curricular approaches as presented by the principal, activities and all kinds of pieces that involve programming. So there are many examples of what we do, but really their role is governance.”

The WQSB has 11 electoral districts, with a commissioner at the helm of each one. Singfield said commissioners meet at least once a month, depending on whether or not a commissioner also sits on a committee, which includes transportation, human resources and other committees.

“You’re looking at a few hours a month,” added Singfield. “If you’re a commissioner and you sit on a committee then it could be up to 10 hours a month.”

This year’s election for commissioners happens on Nov. 3, although candidacy papers are due by Sept. 29.

How to apply? To be a school board commissioner, you must be on the Anglophone Electoral List. All eligible parents with children currently enrolled in a WQSB school are automatically registered. If your child is not currently enrolled in school, you’re still eligible to run as long as you reside within the WQSB catchment area. To register on the electoral list, visit www.westernquebec.ca and complete the Notice to the Anglophone School Board form and send it to rvincent@wqsb.qc.ca

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