District education councils (DECs) in New Brunswick’s anglophone sector could lose their decision-making authority.
The proposed changes are part of a new Education Act introduced by Education Minister Bill Hogan on Tuesday.
Under the proposed changes, Hogan said, DECs would change from being a decision-making body to an advisory body.
The composition of the elected councils would remain the same but with an additional seat for a student member-in-training.
In addition, district superintendents would report directly to Hogan’s department rather than the DECs.
“The new Education Act is intended to improve New Brunswick’s public education and governance structure by making the system more accountable and better meet the needs of children, families and their communities,” Hogan said in the legislature.
Parent school support committees (PSSCs), which advise schools and principals, will receive training in school improvement planning and will be tasked with approving goals and objectives for those plans.
In the francophone sector, DECs will keep their existing powers under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The proposed changes would also give student councils in both sectors more formal opportunities to meet with their PSSCs and DECs to discuss the needs of students at the school and district levels.
If passed, the proposed changes would take effect July 1.
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