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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Catholic school trustees have made it official: a termination letter for assistant superintendent Johnnie Bowden has been withdrawn, and a new contract for superintendent Claudia Parker has been drawn up, pending a lawyer's approval.

The board of trustees held a special board meeting Friday, hoping to put the controversy to rest over plans to let the two longtime employees go, as well as to deal with a number of other outstanding housecleaning issues.

The board has been under pressure ever since word leaked out of the pair's possible removal last January.

"Through all this, it has been great that the community has become involved," said Bowden.

Most board meetings typically have little to no public attendance, he said.

"This underlines the fact that it is a community responsibility."

However, board chair Mary Vane was less optimistic that the recent surge in public attendance at board meetings would carry through because attendance at the school district's public engagement night held two days before the February board meeting was very low.

Only eight people showed up on Feb. 13, said Vane. Last year's event drew about 30 parents.

"I'm afraid that I don't see (an increase in public engagement) following through," said Vane.

During the weekend of Jan. 13 to 15, word began to spread out around Yellowknife that Bowden, the long-time former high school principal who is currently the assistant superintendent of learning, was getting fired, and that Parker's contract wouldn't be renewed.

By the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 14, a Facebook group titled "Show Support for YCS's Johnnie Bowden & Claudia Parker" had roughly 318 members.

At the scheduled monthly board meeting the following Wednesday, Jan. 18, nearly 300 members of the public attended the highly emotional school board meeting.

The first new business on the agenda at Friday's special board meeting was to publicly announce the removal of Bowden's termination letter.

Bowden told Yellowknifer he was advised that the letter was being taken off of his file on Thursday, Feb. 16, two days after board's February board meeting. After being given this news, he was asked for permission to allow the board to disclose that the letter had been removed.

"I think that the board is trying to be responsive to members of the public," said Bowden.

"When it did become official, I think (the board) wanted to get that information out there as quickly as possible, but before they could do that they just had to check with me."

When asked if the public will ever find out why the board wanted him fired in the first place, Bowden said it is unlikely.

"At this point, I still don't understand nor have I been given any indication of the reasons behind my termination. It was a termination without cause," he said. "To this day, it remains unclear."

The final business item of last Friday's agenda was the renewal of Parker's contract, which expires July 31.

"The terms of the contract will not be discussed with the public as it is a private issue," said Vane before the board voted to go in-camera.

When the board came back after private discussions, they announced terms of an agreement have been reached and would be offered to the superintendent.

The proposed contract will go to a lawyer and then be passed on to Parker.

"It is our hope that we will have a new contract signed off as soon as possible," Vane told those in attendance.

Parker was not present at Friday's meeting as she is travelling for a professional development course.

The board also announced a consultant has been hired to ensure trustees are acting in accordance with the law after accusations were made at last month's meeting that they weren't following rules for in-camera discussions.

"We are prepared to review our present practices and make changes where necessary," said Vane. "I believe that at this time there is a need for us to take the time to ensure that they are following the Education Act."

"We've been hearing from the public some very strong concerns about leadership and board practices," said trustee Rose-Marie Jackson.

The board resolved to hold two separate meetings to address public concerns: one private workshop to ensure the processes for meetings are following the Education Act and the board's own policies; and a second meeting in public to address other concerns.

A consultant from the Alberta School Boards Association will host a workshop for board trustees and the senior management team on Feb. 29. A date for the public meeting has not been set.

Motions passed at catholic board meeting Feb. 24

Removal of assistant superintendent's termination letter

Johnnie Bowden gave permission to the board to disclose that his letter of termination was removed as of the previous Thursday.

Procedures for meetings

A board of trustees and senior leadership team workshop has been scheduled for Feb. 29;

This item was amended to include the clause, "In addition, after this workshop, a public meeting to address the concerns of the public presented at the Jan and Feb board meetings."

Committee of the whole meeting Monday, Feb. 27

This meeting was held to discuss the development of a draft budget for the 2012-2013 school year.

Renewal of superintendent's contract

The board went in-camera to discuss the terms of a new contract for Superintendent Claudia Parker. A contract has been sent to a lawyer and the hope is to have it signed as soon as possible, said Mary Vane, board chair.

Source: Yellowknife Catholic Schools

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