MORE POWER & CONTROL FOR THE WATERLOO REGION DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

As if the local school board don't exercise enough inappropriate power and authority they've now done what they do best. By raising the spectre of the bogeyman they have been authorized to totally lock down all their public schools in Waterloo Region. Rest assurred if it suits their purposes they'll suddenly discover that high school kids are doing drugs and they too must be protected from maurading gangs of marijuana pushers promoting "Reefer Madness". This week's Elmira Independent carrys this story "Public schools to start locking doors this fall".

I will say this much. The Waterloo Catholic District School Board are at least upfront with their own reasons and experiences around this issue. Firstly there were no specific incidents and concerns when they instituted this policy change. Secondly "...one of the biggest threats to student safety isn't the unknown intruder some parents may be afraid of. One of the big issues we face unfortunately is parents who aren't supposed to have access to their children...". Really? And how convenient that is when all the schools have to do is stop their thinking right after the word "parents". I had full access to my children and it was simply an internal Board/school decision to discriminate against me because I raised an issue about an abusive teacher. The teachers union/school and Board closed ranks and pretended that this parent was the problem. This is exactly how these unaccountable, filty rich with taxpayers money bureaucrats bully and intimidate parents with legitimate educational grievances. If I thought your locked doors policy would be used smartly and appropriately I could support it. My educated guess is that this is but one more policy to protect teachers, staff and bureaucrats from accountability to parents. Oh I forgot. School Boards are no more accountable to parents than they are to students or anyone else. Sweet deal if you can swing it.