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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Catholic school board meeting tonight promises to be more controversial - or at least more crowded - than the usual monthly meeting.

Dan Stockton shows the more than 200 signatures he collected over three hours on Monday at Tim Hortons and Javaroma. The petition calls for an explanation as to why the Yellowknife Catholic school board is not renewing contracts for superintendent Claudia Parker and vice-superintendent John Bowden. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

A large public outcry over news that long-time employees Johnnie Bowden and Claudia Parker - the Catholic school district's assistant superintendent of learning and superintendent, respectively - are being let go has resulted in hundreds of people signing up to attend tonight's meeting to demand an explanation for the board's actions.

A Facebook group called Show Support for YCS's Johnnie Bowden & Claudia Parker now has 642 members who say they plan to attend the event, although Jacq Brasseur, administrator for the group, concedes the number who actually show up will likely be much smaller.

"I know that many people aren't actually attending, it's that many people who want to show support," said Brasseur, a former student of St. Patrick High School where Bowden was the principal.

"A lot of people are out of town or are unable to attend the meeting, but somehow they want to show that they support Johnnie and Claudia."

Bowden has been with Yellowknife Catholic Schools for 32 years, and Parker for 27, according to the Facebook group.

Brasseur said she was very surprised by the large response the Facebook group received. She said she made the event at about 2 a.m. the night she heard about the dismissals, and by the time she got up the next morning, there were already 100 members.

"I think that there's a moral injustice that's been made," said Brasseur. "And I've heard people say that the board of trustees hasn't done anything illegal, but in my mind it doesn't matter if it's illegal or not ... It's morally wrong to let people go without giving them a reason."

In anticipation of the large public turnout, the school board has moved the location of the 7:30 p.m. meeting from YCS's small downtown board office to St. Joseph School.

"We changed locations because the board office is very small, and so if there were people to come, we changed locations for that reason," said Catholic school board chair Mary Vane.

When asked specific questions about the dismissals, Vane said the board could not comment publicly.

"It's a personnel issue and we can't comment," she said.

"Yellowknife has grown around these people, and it's an inappropriate dismissal," said Dan Stockton, who is organizing a petition in support of Parker and Bowden. "The old saying of 'good guys finish last,' that is so wrong."

On Monday, Stockton had managed to collect well over 200 signatures. He is very happy with this amount given that he had posted his intentions on the Facebook group less than 24 hours earlier and had spent only three hours of his time at local coffee shops amassing the signatures.

When asked about his goals, Stockton gave two: to get an explanation from the school board about why Parker and Bowden were being let go, and to ensure that the dismissal was done properly.

"I think it's about what we teach our kids - we try to teach our kids values," said Stockton. "My kids go to that school system."

Brasseur said both Parker and Bowden had a big impact on her life, especially as a gay teen going to a Catholic high school.

"For me, I'm wondering who is going to replace these people and if they're going to understand what it's like to be superintendent for a school board like ours," said Brasseur, who went through the Catholic school system while growing up in Yellowknife.

"All I want - and I've articulated this a lot in the group - is I want them to see our presence," said Brasseur. "I want them to see our presence as, 'We don't want this to happen, and we're going to be at board meetings until you tell us why this is happening.'"

Brasseur said that she doesn't want members of the public to speak at the meeting, though some people have expressed a desire to do so.

"I think most people are still kind of blind with rage," she said, adding that it would be a better idea to organize a presentation for next month's board meeting.

Vane said those who want to speak must make a request in writing to the board prior to meetings.

"They have to submit a copy of their presentation," said Vane. "There's a lot to it." That deadline was at 5 p.m. Monday, though Vane had no comment as to whether the board had received any requests.

"At least if you make a huge decision like this, be accountable for it," said Stockton, adding that the timing of such a controversial decision seems strange considering this is the time of year people decide which school district to support on their property tax assessments.

"Strategically, from a board's perspective, when they're talking about finances, ratepayers, voters and contributors to a public education system, and we can alter our tax dollars within this 45-day period of our tax notice assessment, is this a logical time to dismiss two people who have such a huge impact on the community?"

Bowden and Parker couldn't be reached for comment.

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