{"id":745,"date":"2014-09-03T20:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/03\/bletas-launches-bid\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:40:57","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:40:57","slug":"bletas-launches-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/09\/03\/bletas-launches-bid\/","title":{"rendered":"Bletas launches bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joel Ceausu<\/b>
\nwww.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should an English education cost more?\u201d asked Steve Bletas at a press conference to officially announce his candidacy for chair of Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

A smattering of more than 40 supporters, candidates, incumbents and stakeholders filled the AGAPE parking lot to hear Bletas outline his Students First program and introduce four of his running mates. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur taxation rate is 34 cents while the (French) Laval school board is 24 cents; that means English education costs more,\u201d he told the group. \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable\u201d he insisted. \u201cWe have to be aggressive and pursue this with government to try and convince them to establish equal taxation: It will be difficult but we have to do it\u201d You have two neighbors where one pays a certain amount and the other pays hundreds more because they have children in the English boards. Is that fair?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bletas, who presented his first running mates Tracy Friedman, Mike Pizzola, Ailsa Pelhi and Nicolas Banco, said the reformed school board election scheme (from 19 commissioners to nine with a universally elected chair) \u201cis a positive step in the evolution of school board governance\u201d and told Laval\u2019s English-speaking electors \u201cthe importance of your vote has never been greater.\u201d <\/p>\n

He promised a culture of transparency and communication, \u201creally listening to our stakeholders and real consultations, including town hall meetings, roundtables and every single commissioner attends every governing board meeting in their territory.\u201d <\/p>\n

Freidman lamented the \u201ccurrent, thorough lack of transparency, and we are really keen on changing that as we move forward. We won\u2019t require parents and stakeholders to submit questions 48 hours in advance,\u201d she said, referring to her own experience of having to submit such a query regarding high school mergers, and not getting a satisfactory response. \u201cAs a board we should have the answers and if we don\u2019t, then the confidence to say we don\u2019t and to communicate openly and swiftly with staff, parents, teachers and students. That\u2019s what we are going to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bletas responded to criticism of his perceived heavy-handedness in dealing with administrators or staff. \u201cIf something needs to be done, I\u2019m not about handing it off to bureaucrats down the line. I was very aggressive,\u201d he said, \u201cbut after two years in the bleachers I\u2019ve picked up on a few things…If something\u2019s brought to my attention, I will listen and bring it forward to administration, but problems don\u2019t just disappear by doing that, they must be resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve stepped down as chair but never stepped back,\u201d said Friedman, about Bletas who was chair for the board\u2019s first 14 years until stepping down two years ago. \u201cHe stayed on as commissioner. He didn\u2019t go away.\u201d It\u2019s ironic, says Pelhi, \u201cbut the same people who criticized him for pushing too hard back then, now wish his approach was back, because that\u2019s what we need.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bletas said pride in the board has disappeared, especially as he watched student concerns largely dismissed during the merger process. \u201cStudents were adamant in their positions and the administration told them \u2018We know better, we\u2019re going ahead,\u2019 instead of taking an extra year for transition.\u201d Outgoing commissioner Mario Di Domenico agreed: \u201cThis board has turned inward. We have to bring stakeholders back into the debate. It has become a top-down entity with a \u2018let them eat cake\u2019 attitude. That has to change.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bletas insisted that there \u201cis no war going on at council\u201d but that it\u2019s time for a culture shift, one he hopes will come his way Nov. 2. <\/p>\n

As of press time, the only candidates registered with Quebec\u2019s director-general of elections as candidates for the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board are: <\/p>\n