Vast size of school board sometimes a challenge: Director

When the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) was created by provincial edict in 1998, it was obvious to even the most casual observer that the potential for feelings of staff isolation and disconnection could occur. That’s because the new jurisdiction covered almost 12,000 square kilometres but contained only 48 schools.

In a recent telephone interview with TLDSB Director of Education Wes Hahn, Kawartha Lakes Weeklywanted to know what the board is doing to ensure that all its staff, regardless of geography, feel seen and supported, and combat the view held by some Kawartha Lakes area staff that the board power centre is now firmly entrenched at the Muskoka Education Centre in Bracebridge.

On the issue of staff feeling seen and supported by senior administration and trustees regardless of where they are in the board geographically, Hahn made it clear that there has been a major shift in how in-servicing of teachers has been done since he arrived from the Niagara Falls area in 2020, and that while much has been achieved there is still more to do.

“When I got here, people were in the board offices,” Hahn said. “I wanted them out in schools supporting staff. We needed to have more people in the schools. We now have rotating board meetings both in Lindsay and Bracebridge and most professional development is now done in Minden so no one individual has more than an hour to drive where possible.”

Hahn said that TLDSB has three former board offices and every attempt has been made to utilize all three of them when necessary to limit staff driving and support student learning.

“There has been a huge shift in in-servicing staff,” Hahn said. “Superintendents are to be in the schools…I am in the schools. If you are responsible for servicing schools you travel. Senior staff spend hours in their car because of the distances between schools.”

Hahn noted that if you happen to visit either the former Muskoka or Lindsay board offices during an average week, apart from operational staff, the buildings are generally sparsely attended as senior staff are out talking to and supporting teachers, educational assistants, principals and students.

Hahn said in his role as director he has regular meetings with community members, principals and teachers, recently sitting down with 60 teaching staff from across the three areas of the board to talk about what their biggest concerns are and how senior staff might be able to help.

“Superintendents are in schools two to three days a week,” Hahn said. “They attend school council meetings and staff meetings. We are everywhere across all regions of the board supporting student learning particularly at the primary and junior grades where the bulk of provincial funding has been made available to support student learning for the last five years. Those monies are moving up to Grade 7,8 and 9 teachers and we will soon be spending a lot more time with intermediate grade teachers now that the funding is being made available.”

Hahn expressed an awareness of the risks senior staff take driving from one rural school to the next as part of their daily duties.

“Resources have to be in the schools,” Hahn said. “We are aware of the amount of driving and urge our staff to take safety precautions.”

When asked about concerns expressed by some Kawartha Lakes area teachers that the board has become too Muskoka-centric, Hahn said he heard the exact opposite from Muskoka teachers when he first arrived in Bracebridge.

“Muskoka thought all the power was in Kawartha Lakes,” Hahn laughed.

Hahn did suggest that a misperception of what area has more influence in the board might be partially reinforced by the use of the Muskoka Education Centre when principals and vice-principals from across the board gather for professional development.

“After trying other community facilities (which were inadequate) we found (this board office) was the only facility big enough to host us all.”

Tech support here is readily available, along with equipment for meetings.

Hahn believes that once more teachers, particularly at the secondary panel, have a chance to do in-service work with senior board staff about the best way to approach effective teaching strategies they will feel more connected with the board and less isolated in their daily teaching activities.