3 Mountain View school trustees resign, superintendent out

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This article was published 03/06/2024 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three Mountain View School Division trustees have resigned following the dismissal of Supt. Stephen Jaddock, the Sun has learned.

In the wake of Jaddock’s dismissal, the Manitoba Métis Federation alleged in a media release that he had been let go because he allowed last weekend’s Dauphin Pride parade to start at a division school. The board chair has denied this allegation.

Ward 1 trustee Floyd Martens confirmed to the Sun by phone Monday evening that he had submitted his resignation earlier in the day and said his colleagues Leifa Misko (Ward 1) and Scott McCallum (Ward 4) had submitted theirs as well.

Martens said he did not want to say much more ahead of the release of results from a governance review into the division ordered by Education Minister Nello Altomare, but read out the contents of his resignation letter.

“I’m resigning as a school trustee effective immediately,” Martens said. “The conduct I’ve witnessed by board members is not something I can support or continue to be associated with.”

Martens said he was not present at a board meeting last Friday when Jaddock’s status was discussed.

By Facebook Messenger, Misko confirmed she had resigned. The Sun was unable to reach McCallum.

The governance review was ordered after Ward 2 trustee Paul Coffey’s made a presentation on April 22 decrying anti-racism and making other comments about Indigenous people that were condemned by groups like the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.

Coffey defended residential schools, denied the existence of white privilege, used outdated terms to refer to Indigenous people and attacked land acknowledgments, among other comments.

The review was expected to conclude Monday, according to a letter from Altomare read out at the board’s May 13 regular meeting.

In an online statement issued by the Dauphin-based division earlier Monday, board chair Gabe Mercier announced Jaddock’s departure was effective immediately and the search for his successor had started.

In an email to the Sun, Mercier denied the MMF’s allegation about the reason for Jaddock’s departure and said the board had been reviewing Jaddock’s performance since April 22 as his contract was set to expire in June.

Mercier also referenced the meeting held about Jaddock’s status last Friday, though there is no record of the meeting on the division’s website.

He said the decision to dismiss Jaddock was unanimous among board members present at the meeting. He also denied that Jaddock’s dismissal was related to the statement the superintendent posted to the division’s website following Coffey’s presentation.

Though Jaddock did not name Coffey, his statement said that he regretted not stepping up and interrupting the presentation and that he intended to continue to pursue reconciliation.

That statement has since been deleted from the school division’s website.

After the announcement of Jaddock’s departure, the MMF sent out a media release saying that it came in the aftermath of the Pride parade the federation’s Northwest Region held last Saturday.

“The MMF’s Northwest Region sponsored the second annual, successful Pride Parade in Dauphin on Saturday,” the release said.

“Unfortunately, the event was overshadowed by the (MVSD) superintendent’s abrupt dismissal the night before. Northwest regional leadership and citizens were deeply concerned by reports within the community that the superintendent’s dismissal was at least partly in reaction to the pride parade beginning on school grounds.”

In a phone interview MMF Early Learning and Child Care Minister Frances Chartrand said she had been told at the Pride parade by division teachers, parents and Métis citizens that Jaddock had been fired over the event.

She said there were worries that the parade would be shut down, but that did not happen.

“I hope the result (of the review) is for all the trustees to be gone and that we start with a new slate,” Chartrand said.

“We have Red River Métis curriculum on how to respect people and how we can all work together under a governance structure. Most important is that they’re furthering their education to families and youth, that they’re in a safe learning environment without being threatened on who they are, who they love and what they believe.”

Going forward, she said the MMF would do everything it could to make sure previous efforts to eliminate racism and intolerance wouldn’t be undone.

“There’s dysfunction when three trustees resigned right after the announcement of the firing of the superintendent,” she added.

By email, Altomare declined to comment on Jaddock’s departure. The Sun was unaware of the three trustees’ resignations when requesting comment from the minister.

“Our government is currently conducting a governance review of Mountain View School Division,” he said. “HR decisions involving superintendent remain under the purview of the board.”

According to previous reporting by the Dauphin Herald, Jaddock was promoted from assistant superintendent to the top role in June 2022. He originally started in the division as a Ukrainian language and chemistry teacher at Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School in 1993.

The Sun was unable to reach Jaddock for comment.

One seat was vacant on the board when the three trustees resigned. A planned byelection to fill the existing vacancy was delayed after the launch of the governance review. With the three resignations, the board now consists of five trustees.

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