- Alex Morton, former Anglophone East district education council member

Fowler cited a court decision about one particular school closure case in which the judge said the minister was duty-bound to accept the education council's recommendation. By contrast, ministers have consistently said they had veto power, said Fowler.

Morton agreed the changes will remove any semblance of local control the councils have over the superintendent or the budget.

"Now, it's just blatant," he said.

"There's no requirement to listen. There's no feedback loop. It essentially becomes one person in Fredericton."

Ultimately, the council can only write a letter and ask the minister for permission to do something.

"We're setting up the education minister and ultimately the premier to fail in this situation because it's too much for one person to do all of that work."

In a way, the amendments only codify what has been the de facto system, said Morton.

District education councils are supposed to have control of the budget, but it's essentially dictated from Fredericton, he said.

Morton gave the example of a 75-year-old building that was due to be replaced eight years ago. The province decided to install an $800,000 elevator in it that nobody locally wanted, he said.

He would have much preferred to see changes go in the opposite direction by giving the councils a greater say.

At a meeting last May, about 40 members of the four anglophone district councils came up with their own recommendations to improve the system, said Geburt, but those were ignored.

The system isn't "broken," he said. It generally works well, but could use some tweaking.

Fowler, too, was hoping the government would strengthen the role of the district education councils by solidifying their decision-making powers.

Many times council members have felt a sense of futility and frustration, he said, trying to get approvals from the minister or Department of Education.

Michelle Melendy of the Bessborough Parent School Support Committee in Moncton, says proposed changes could mean opportunities for parents to have a say at the school level. (Submitted by Michelle Melendy)

This will only serve to discourage citizen engagement in education, he said.

"if you're going to volunteer your time you want to be somewhere that's going to have an impact."

"Your time is probably better spent lobbying the minister or the premier," added Morton.

More say for parents

Meanwhile, Michelle Melendy is pleased about proposed changes for parent school support committees. She is chair of the Bessborough committee and vice-chair of the one at Bernice MacNaughton High School, both in Moncton.

She sees greater opportunities for parents to have a say at the school level because under the reforms, members of the  committee would get training so they can help set goals for school improvement plans, she said.

The original proposal, released about a year ago, was to get rid of the parent school support committees noted Morton.

He's glad they'll be sticking around, but doesn't share Melendy's optimism they'll have much input. 

Policy 713 lays out minimum requirements for school districts to create a safe, welcoming learning environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex and two-spirited students. 

It says students have the right to self-identify and express themselves without fear of consequence, and teachers must create a school culture where the students "see themselves and their lives positively reflected."

The policy allows students to pick which pronouns apply to them and requires teachers to respect their choice. It lets them establish gender-sexuality alliance groups without requiring parental consent or notification. 

It also says each school must have at least one gender-neutral bathroom. 

On Monday, parents and teachers accused Hogan of caving in to hate after he revealed his department was reviewing the policy because of a backlash against the guidelines.

An attempt to roll back sex ed: Opposition

Speaking during question period in the legislature Wednesday, Liberal Leader Susan Holt accused the government of seeking to roll back sex education for LGBTQ+ students.

Holt suggested that the move was directed by Premier Blaine Higgs, and that new changes to the governance structure of district education councils were really about giving the premier free reign to interfere with the sex-ed curriculum.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt suggested that changes to the governance structure of district education councils were part of the government's plan to alter the sex-education curriculum. (Aidan Cox/CBC)

"Now he's made changes to the DEC model, so that the premier can put his hands on middle school sex-education curriculum because the new model would not constrain that power," Holt said.

Speaking to reporters, Hogan said that assertion by Holt was false, but went on to say his department needs to look at the "scope and sequence" of certain curricula, including that of sex education, to see how it's being implemented.

"And to see how that matches with the with Policy 713 — if it does or if it doesn't — or if it's created confusion in the province amongst our teachers."

Holt was elected leader of the N.B. Liberal Party nine months ago, but did not have a seat in the legislature. In a byelection in April, she was elected in Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint Isidore, and was sworn into the legislature Tuesday.

She also participated in her first question period, wearing a black T-shirt with "Straight outta Bathurst" printed in bold white letters. 

Her first question as leader of the Official Opposition was to Health Minister Bruce Fitch: How many people are still on the primary-care wait list?

"New Brunswickers made it clear to me and to all members of our team that the number one thing that keeps them  up at night is their health, their loved ones' health and their access to care," she said.

Fitch said that at one point, the list had 74,000 people, largely owing to a record increase in population. Now, the list is at 47,000 people.

Holt said the government has already missed one of its deadlines to eliminate the wait list, and there's a new target for the end of June. She asked whether the province will be able to meet that deadline, but Fitch did not explicitly answer the question.

"We're going to continue to work day in and day out to reduce that number to make sure people have access to primary care," he said.

When the New Brunswick health plan was announced in 2021, the number of people on the list was at 40,000. After a jump in population, it increased to 74,000, then decreased again, he said. 

Holt questions education minister

Holt's second question was about the province's handling of a backlash against a school policy meant to protect LGBTQ students.

The policy sets minimum standards for a safe environment for LGBTQ students, allows students to choose their pronouns and requires teachers to respect their choice. It also allows them to establish gender-sexuality alliance groups without requiring parental consent or notification. 

The province has said it is rethinking the policy because of "misunderstandings and concerns," and Holt asked Education Minister to describe the nature of the complaints the government has received, the specific number and where they came from. 

Hogan didn't provide the information in his response.

"We believe in respectful, safe and inclusive school environment," he said. "We will continue to promote and guarantee that, we will continue to guarantee the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

Holt said Hogan created an unsafe environment with comments last week, when he distanced himself from a learning session teachers were holding at a Fredericton-area school on sexual orientation and gender identify. 

Holt said if the minister "were interested in ensuring that students were safe in schools, he would be putting his full support" behind the policy.