Last week Education Minister Bill Hogan wrote to the chairs of four district education councils — three francophone districts plus Anglophone East — to notify them he was repealing policies they adopted at the council level on implementing Policy 713.

He told the councils to remove their policies from their websites. As of this week, the policies for all three francophone districts remain on their sites.

The three education councils issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they haven't responded to Hogan yet because they haven't had a chance to meet since the letters.

The statement said the councils will each meet "in the coming weeks to allow its members to evaluate the different options available to them."

Côté said he could not comment on the letters until the Francophone South council meets but he described the education councils' relationship with the province as "stormy."

"The majority of our time is spent defending ourselves against approaches by the government that are trying to bypass districts to implement their policies or their ideology."

He called it "very exhausting."

According to Côté, the province proposed a new model for educational governance to the councils two years ago that would have reduced their decision making powers, turning them into little more than consultative committees and taking away "almost all of our rights."

Last week Education Minister Bill Hogan wrote to the chairs of four district education councils — three francophone districts plus Anglophone East — to notify them he was repealing policies they adopted at the council level on implementing Policy 713. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

Under Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, minority language communities in all provinces have a constitutional right to manage their own schools.

Then-minister Dominic Cardy eventually backed off, and the province's three francophone districts began working together and with stakeholder groups and departmental officials on their own proposal to modernize governance.

But last spring, Cardy's successor as minister, Bill Hogan, introduced Bill 46. 

While it would have limited the powers of anglophone education councils only and left the powers of francophone councils intact — because of Section 23 of the Charter — Côté says it ignored the proposals the councils had come up with themselves. 

Hogan eventually withdrew Bill 46 without it being passed into law.

"They had an idea they wanted to impose and it didn't work. To me the trust is not there anymore," said Côté.

At the same time, education councils were pushing back at the changes to Policy 713, which now says teachers and school staff must get parental consent when a student under the age of 16 wants to adopt a new name or pronoun at school. 

Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick’s child, youth and seniors' advocate, said the province's changes to Policy 713 violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Human Rights Act and the Education Act. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

The three francophone districts adopted their own policy, modelled on a proposal by child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock, that allows students in Grade 6 or older to do so.

The districts argue that the province's changes could violate equality-rights provisions of the Charter as well as the provincial Human Rights Act and Education Act.

Last December the government stripped away a policy requirement that it fund the legal expenses of school districts that find themselves in a disagreement with the province.

"We were never in a situation where we had to continually contact lawyers for legal advice because we had governments who were allies, who worked with us,"  Côté said.

"Now we don't see the same approach." 

Hogan did not immediately respond to an interview request from CBC News about Côté's comments. 

New Brunswick's three francophone school districts have defied a letter from the province's education minister repealing their gender identity policies and ordering them removed from district websites.

The policies, adopted last September and at odds with the province's Policy 713, remain posted online on the sites for the Francophone South, Francophone Northwest and Francophone Northeast districts.

The three districts adopted identical policies last fall saying that, "regardless" of the Higgs government's changes to Policy 713, students in Grade 6 and above can choose the names and pronouns they want the school to use for official purposes.

The policies say students younger than Grade 6 may do the same, depending on their age, maturity and capacity. 

Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick’s child, youth and seniors' advocate, said the province's changes to Policy 713 violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Human Rights Act and the Education Act. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

Those provisions mirror recommendations made last year by child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock, who said the province's changes to Policy 713 violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Human Rights Act and the Education Act. 

Those changes include requiring teachers to get parental consent before using the chosen name and pronoun of a child under 16 verbally in the classroom.

On April 22, Hogan wrote to the three districts, along with Anglophone East, pointing out they had defied a March 28 deadline he gave them to modify or repeal their policies.

He said he was repealing their policies and demanded they be taken offline.

No one from the three francophone districts agreed to an interview.

But Francophone South spokesperson Jean-Luc Thériault pointed out in an email statement that the district's policy remains on its website.

He said the DEC "chooses to interpret and apply Policy 713 in a manner consistent with existing constitutional and quasi-constitutional rights, in the best interests and well-being of all our students."

Francophone Northwest spokesperson Alain Sirois confirmed its policy remains in place but would not confirm the existence of Hogan's letter.

Francophone South spokesperson Jean-Luc Thériault pointed out in an email statement that the district's policy remains on its website. (Francophone south school district)

No one from the Francophone Northeast district responded to a request from CBC News, but its policy also remains on its website.

Hogan's department provided copies of his letters to all four districts.  

The three francophone district policies say they will interpret Policy 713 "in a way that protects the rights of students to a safe, inclusive, caring and welcoming learning environment" consistent with the Charter and provincial laws.

Another section says officials will not interpret Policy 713 in ways that violate the rights of students under Section 15 of the Charter — its equal rights provision — or discriminate against them, "notably with regard to gender identity or expression."

On April 24, Anglophone East responded to Hogan's letter by adopting a new policy identical to the one Hogan said he was repealing. 

Anglophone East has argued it cannot implement the province's Policy 713 changes as drafted without risking a violation of the Charter, the Education Act and the provincial Human Rights Act.

It adopted a policy that said staff must respect all students' chosen names and pronouns in "daily interactions."

The district is now before the courts seeking an injunction to block Hogan from quashing its policy and from dissolving the district council — something members say he threatened.

The court is set to hear arguments on that June 18-19.