WSD committed to transparency

A recent Free Press article (Trustees’ closed-door approach slammed) alleges Winnipeg School Division (WSD) leadership and the board of trustees are spending more time in in-camera sessions than they do in public discussion during monthly public board meetings.

This claim that trustees are holding dubious conversations in private and that WSD is not transparent with the public could not be further from the truth.

As the largest school division in the province, Winnipeg School Division has board meeting agenda items that must follow the parameters of the Public Schools Act and divisional procedural bylaws, and applicable legislation which require trustees to discuss certain topics in camera sessions. Education journalists and professors are keenly aware that not all agenda items can be discussed in a public forum.

WSD’s public board meetings are open to the public to attend in person. They are also broadcasted and recorded. WSD is one of the only divisions in Manitoba that has live broadcasts of board meetings.

The article claims that during the 2024-25 school year, seven out of 15 board meetings were in-camera 50 per cent of the time. Is this more than previous years? Is this different from other metro Winnipeg school divisions? How about the other 36 school divisions in the province? Did the article compare how much public discussion is carried out at public committee meetings versus public board meetings? These questions were not asked, nor answered, in the article, nor did it cite our procedural bylaws that dictate what is discussed in camera sessions.

At a four-hour board meeting, the public portion of the meeting involves delegations speaking, committee reports, tender approvals, inquiries from trustees, policy debate and approval, and the approval of reports. Much of this board of trustees work is carried out in public committee meetings throughout the month that the public and media are welcome to attend.

In-camera sessions are reserved for agenda items that impact people and their privacy. Families speaking about issues related to their children. Staffing appointments. Employee accommodation requests. Disciplinary issues. WSD has nearly 6,000 employees and serves over 32,000 students. As a result, the board of trustees often needs to go into in-camera sessions to protect the privacy of employees or family members. This is an appropriate and normal action taken by any democratic board.

In-camera sessions are also sometimes used to discuss some business affairs: preliminary budget discussions; strategic plan documents; reports to the board that have yet to be approved; collective bargaining agreements. This past school year alone, WSD ratified collective bargaining agreements with five employee groups.

WSD holds over 100 public meetings per year. Some of these meetings are functions of the board itself: finance and personnel, governance, transportation and buildings, and ward boundaries, for example.

Other meetings are advisory committee meetings that specifically report to the community and allow the community to report back. These committee meetings include topics such as Indigenous education, inclusive education, French immersion, equity, environmental education, and our north, south, central, and inner-city district advisory committees.

Democracy in Canada is founded on powerful, investigative, and rigorous journalism. Equally, public education and public school boards are critical to developing the knowledge, skills, and ways of being for youth to become engaged citizens. The purpose of public education is not to serve the public, but rather to create a public.

Media are welcome to attend any board of trustee or committee meetings, especially those journalists and reporters tasked with reporting on public education.

Transparency is a central tenet of democracy, and one that WSD upholds with vigour. WSD welcomes the Free Press’s responsibility to hold power to account. We are always available to answer questions.

Matt Henderson is the superintendent of Winnipeg School Division.