Cardy steps on Anglophone South budget protest, and 'bully' tactic dismays chair

Education Minister Dominic Cardy is bypassing the Anglophone South district education council, approving a budget the elected council has rejected twice.

The council voted down its balanced budget for the 2019-20 school year to protest against a $2 million shortfall in funding for educational assistants.

Cardy said the Education Act gives him the power to impose a budget on a school district.

"I was disappointed that the DEC failed to comply with their legislative duty to submit a balanced expenditure plan," Cardy wrote in a letter Nov. 7 to Rob Fowler, the council chair.

The minister went on to say he has the power to ask a Court of Queen's Bench judge to "dissolve" a district education council if he believes the council has failed to comply with the Education Act "within a reasonable time period."

As a "corrective" measure, the school district will now be subject to monthly monitoring by the department, instead of regular quarterly reports.

"I trust that these actions will be received in the spirit of collaboration and open dialogue," Cardy wrote in the last paragraph.

In a response to a request for an interview, Cardy sent a written statement. In it, he said if the district education approves the balanced budget, he's open to revisiting new monitoring schedules.

"If non-compliance continues, the DEC has been reminded of our administrative processes as per legislation," he said.

Fowler said he was disappointed with the minister's approach.

"I am frustrated by the tone of the letter," he said. "I think using threats and intimidation doesn't accomplish anything."

More pressure on staff

He said the monthly monitoring will increase staff workload, "which is a bit of a backdoor way of putting pressure on us."

He said the threat to dissolve the council "is a complete bully, intimidation tactic."

Fowler has previously said the council and Cardy were at "a stalemate," because the council didn't want to approve the budget until they met with the minister, but the minister wouldn't meet with them until they passed the budget.

Fowler said he hopes the stalemate would end with a meeting, not this letter.

"At the end of the day we took a stance to send a message about our budgetary pressures and the issues that all districts face in New Brunswick," he said.

"I think the message has been sent. I think that we get that point across. So let's move on and we'll see what happens."

The province provides education councils with a global budget, and it's up to the council to decide how to allocate the money. Councils are not allowed to operate without balanced budgets.

Fowler previously told CBC the board is required by law to have a balanced budget every year.

When there isn't enough money to hire the required number of educational assistants, the board takes money from other areas to fill the gap. That's why, he said, the budget the council voted on this year was balanced but still flawed.

Changes to the budget

Since the council last met, the province has added some funding because of increased enrolment. On Wednesday evening, the council will vote on the new budget.

The district education council for Anglophone East passed its budget in October after two months of rejecting it to protest against inadequate funding for educational assistants.

Chair Harry Doyle said Anglophone East didn't get the letter the minister wrote to Anglophone South. The council eventually approved the budget because members wanted to meet with Cardy, and he wouldn't meet with them until the budget was passed.

They also had increased enrolment so they weren't in that much trouble financially, Doyle said.