Governance Answer Blog

Poor Governance Practices Lead to Warning By Education Minister

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In the past few years in Canada, we have seen school boards fired in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. they were dismissed because they were not willing to play by the provincial government's rules and practice excellence in corporate governance.

As seen in the following statement, the Alberta Government is ready to take a stand with its school boards

             Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk has said he will introduce new rules         requiring greater financial transparency by boards that will enable voters to better decide when trustees are worthy of re-election. Lukaszuk also told the Herald’s editorial board Monday that he was willing to fire trustees and appoint a new board in cases where dollars had been misappropriated and children had been adversely affected. http://www.calgaryherald.com/passes+governance+policy+vote+unanimous/6011335/story.html#ixzz1jrIr2QRa

Publicly-funded boards have to accept the notion that they are accountable to their legal owners, their provincial governments. This means:

1. Accepting the conferred mandates
2. Abiding by the policies of the government
3. Demonstrating transparency and accountability
4. Establishing and following measurable governance policies
5. Governing risks
6. Governing within allocated resources and practicing general accepted accounting principles
7. Evaluating the performance of the boards, the board members and the superintendents/CEOs.
8. Practicing open and honest communication
9. Working as teams and using harmonious problem solving strategies
10. Planning strategically outlining measurable goals and objectives
11. Meeting all reporting standards.

When a publicly-funded board begins to violate any of these governance practices someone is bound to notice. When they do, it is often too late. As the old saying goes "It is better to take your time and do it right the first time."

There are programs based on research with school boards to assist with the professional development of board members. Resources are available. Go to Free Articles and Newsletters to access those on this website or join our mailing list to receive our free quarterly newsletter. School boards in Canada can count on their School Boards Associations and the Canadian School Boards Association to support their professional development efforts.