Play Nice

All kids fight, and mine are hardly an exception. I often have to moderate their arguments and deliver a stern "smarten up" when things get out of hand. My kids are 9 and 2.

How sad that the Minister of Education, Karen Casey, had to lay down the law with her children, the Strait Regional School Board. Those kids are much older than mine, and they should know better.

I would be remiss not to add that, while the majority of instigators have been School Board members for awhile, there are a few new faces who should, perhaps, be excluded from a tongue-lashing like this. I am left to wonder why these folks would jump into such a snakepit, but I am assuming they will act as professionals during their tenure, and I am hopeful that fresh eyes, minds, and attitudes will be beneficial to the students in our area.

Members of the SRSB are elected representatives, which means they are obligated to serve the people. They are also paid representatives, which means they are paid by those same people. I'm sure the taxpayers who furnish those salaries - working mothers, cell center toilers, labourers who work 16-hour days - would all agree that School Board members are compensated handsomely for the work they do. One would think they could behave themselves for long enough to complete the tasks at hand, collect their cheque, and go home in peace.

Apparently not.

It's embarrassing that a group of grown men and women had to be publicly reprimanded by their governing body for bad behavior.

Over the years, there have been quiet (and not-so-quiet) rumblings about discord within the SRSB, especially at their monthly meetings. Catty remarks, finger-pointing, all-out verbal brawling, hasty departures, name-calling - all in the name of personal agendas, reputations, and egos. Sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer, yet these are the people making decisions about our kids' education, on our behalf. Scary.

And then, to be given "directives" to wise-up, and requesting an extension for time to agree on a promise to behave themselves? Are you kidding me? Too bad if the deadline falls before your scheduled meeting, call another one! If you're given a time frame to make changes and resolve a matter (that shouldn't even have had to be addressed in the first place), can't you make a special effort to gather for an hour and get it resolved in the time given? Shameful.

Finally, in "last straw" news, the motion to adopt the new house rules was passed by a vote of 9-3, meaning three people didn't want to grow up and agree to some level of maturity at all. Add to this the planned motion to abolish the whole code of ethics entirely, and you've got perhaps the most childish, unprofessional School Board in the province. Congratulations.

Time to get a firm grip, SRSB. Years of dissent, bickering, and other assorted bad behavior were bound to backfire on your illustrious gaggle of "professionals" eventually. A public "tsk" probably stings, but at least the Education Department's resident pitbull has given you a chance to redeem yourselves, instead of sending you the way of the Halifax Regional School Board. Consider yourselves lucky, warned, and in need of some serious repair.

Fear not, commoners; I am very aware of the backlash I'm sure I'll receive from those I have called out. To those people, I'll respond in a manor which is in keeping with the maturity level shown by you and your colleagues: "I'm rubber, you're glue......"