Quebec government extends trusteeship of EMSB to give Marlene Jennings time to restructure board

The English Montreal School Board will stay under partial trusteeship for another six months, and former Liberal MP Marlene Jennings will remain in charge, the Quebec government announced Tuesday.

Following a 10-month government probe into the school board that revealed a range of governance and management problems,Education Minister Jean-Franois Robergeappointed Jennings as trusteelast November, saying, "it's just what a good government should do."

Jennings was givenall the powers and functions of the electedcommissioners and hadthe task of developing a plan to restructure the board over the first six months of her mandate.

Extending the trusteeship for another six months will allow time to deploy thatplan, putting the EMSB's educational mission front and centre, the Education Ministry saidin Tuesday's statement.

Roberge said the extension is necessary as it will "make it possible to continue implementing best practices within the organization and perpetuate them."

Roberge ordered the investigation into the EMSB's conductin January 2019, as the political infighting among commissioners reached a boiling point.

That investigation foundirregularities in the awarding of contracts, issues with the board's management and human resources, as well as the "excessive politicization of decision-making" that, according to Roberge, was detrimental to both students and parents.

The extension of Jenning's mandate comes just as the EMSB is expressing concern about the province's plan to reopen elementary schools in the greater Montreal region on May 19.

The EMSB, along with the other eight English-language school boards in Quebec, want the power to determine what date its schools can reopen at this stage in the COVID-19 pandemic, based on when public health directives can be met.

"The EMSB is in favour of reopening its elementary schools when it is safe to do so," the board said in a statement Monday. "We will aim for May 19, but we will take the time needed to plan carefully."