Legault considers putting EMSB under trusteeship as school board hearings get underway

Quebec Premier Franois Legaultis considering putting the English Montreal School Boardunder trusteeship as more details about alleged mismanagement at the organization come to light.

He called the current situation "unacceptable" and said a decision on the matter would be made in the coming days.

Legault made the comments Monday, only hours before hearings got underway into his government's proposed law eliminating school boards.

A government report found the school board suffered from dysfunction and lack of leadership.The entire report has not been made public but its conclusions were provided to media in September.

On Monday, theJournal de Montralpublished further details from the final report, including allegations of the irregular use of taxpayers' money.

The latest media reports, coupled with the possibility of being placed under trusteeship,complicates matters for the EMSB as it engages in a fight for its very existence.

'Perfect timing'

The EMSBquickly fired back, suggesting information leaked to the media was"nothing more than a petty attempt to malign" the school board, which it says has the highest student success rate in the country. A full92.4 per cent of students graduate from high school.

"The EMSB calls upon Minister Roberge to stop leaking tidbits of his report and provide the board with a full copy immediately with ample time for us to provide feedback which should then be incorporated into the final report," the statement said.

It goes on to accuse the CAQ of being "vindictive" and trying to "discredit" and punish the EMSBfor taking thegovernment to court over the province's religious symbols ban.

EMSB spokesperson Michael Cohen defended the board against a leaked list of expenses on Monday afternoon, citing a $400 gift for a retiring memberand money spent on bottles of wine for pre-meeting dinners.

"The way it's being characterized is very, very inappropriate [and]not fair," he said, adding that he expects other boards' expense reports would include similar purchases.

Cohen emphasized that the EMSB has an $85-million surplus and is able to balance its books without help from the government.

"We are managing our finances very well. We should be congratulated for that. But there's a political motive here, clearly."

Marwah Rizqy, the opposition education critic for the Liberals, also questioned the "perfect timing" of the leak. She said the troubles at the EMSB are not a reflection of the overall school board system.

"People are talking about the services they want for their kids. This is not a priority," she said.

Education Minister Jean-Franois Robergedenied the controversy unfolding at the EMSB had anything to do with the CAQ's plan to abolish school boards, which has long been a party promise.

But he said it's further evidence that reform is needed.

"I don't think that anybody is surprised that the CAQ is going forward to this bill," he said.

He said the government is "showing good faith" by including compromises for the English community.

English vs French system

The CAQ's Bill 40 would abolish school boards, replacing them with "service centres" run by a 16-person board of directors composed of parents, teachers and other members of the community.In the French-language system, those centres wouldbe appointed, not elected.

The government made some exceptions for the English system. AnglophoneQuebecers wouldbe able to vote for all but four members of the board of directors at the service centres.

The four unelected members wouldbe representatives from the school system.

In its memoir presented to the commission, theQuebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) argued Bill 40 would do nothing to improve the province's school system and infringe on the constitutional rights of anglophones to control their own institutions.

The Quebec Federation of School Boards (FCSQ), which represents French-language boards,also presented on Monday.

At a news conference ahead of the hearings, FCSQ president Alain Fortier saidthe law was discriminatory, disconnected from reality and anti-democratic.

"We think it's centralization. It doesn't create any school success," he said. He argued those in the French system shouldbe given a chance to vote for their representatives, just like in the English system, otherwise it would be unfair.

The hearings run until Thursday this week and Monday through Wednesday next week.