WSD trustees must solve 'shameful' dysfunction or be replaced

If the Winnipeg School Division is even half as dysfunctional as a new provincially-commissioned report suggests, I pity the poor students and their families who have to put up with it But it’s tough to tell exactly what’s going on at Manitoba’s largest school division since the report — written by an NDP-appointed, former Seven Oaks School Division superintendent — is so clumsily written and filled with rumour and innuendo, it’s difficult at times to even take it seriously. The Winnipeg School Division Governance Review was released by Education Minister James Allum Tuesday. The report, written by John Wiens — who now works as an education professor at the University of Manitoba — excoriates WSD trustees and senior administrators. He calls the board “out of control” and urges elected and non-elected officials to “clean up their acts.” Wien's identifies what appear to be some very real problems at the school division, including trustees who allegedly harass and even “bully” division employees.