the decision to eliminate prayer during the Remembrance Day Service at Jubilee Elementary School in Sydney Mines has been reversed.
However, that should not be the end of it. Does a school advisory council exist at Jubilee Elementary School? If it does, were the members informed of the impending decision? Was there even discussion on the intention to squash the prayer during the Remembrance Day Service? If you were not consulted you are nothing more than puppets to the school administration and that clearly shows that your school advisory council is little more than political window dressing.
I have served on the School Advisory Council (SAC) at John Bernard Croak VC Memorial School in Glace Bay since the inception of advisory councils. If that decision hadn’t been overturned I would have resigned because it is the kind of decision that stirs society’s caldrons of hate.
Nov. 11 is a day of respite for society to honour those who fought and died to put an end to regimes that evolved and flourished because of such cauldrons of hate. It’s the most emotional civic holiday on our calendar, and epitomizes the very core of patriotism. A non-denominational prayer is an integral part of every Remembrance Day Service.
The decision to eliminate the prayer from the Remembrance Day Service was clearly a change in ‘policy’ at that school. An important function of the school advisory council is advising the principal and staff on school ‘policies’, curriculum and programs, school practices, student discipline, fundraising, school communication with parents/guardians, and similar matters to promote a positive learning environment.
How often does that happen? The SAC chairperson is supposed to collaborate with the principal in an advisory role, and ensure open lines of communication within the SAC, the school, parent/guardians and community.
As members of a school advisory council, you are supposed to be the community’s connection to that school and therefore you should have been given the opportunity to discuss such a change in policy.
Teachers take many professional courses, programs and degrees, often leading to administrative positions. The decision to eliminate prayer during a Remembrance Day Service leaves me wondering if we need a BCS - Bachelor of Common Sense!
Al Moore
Glace Bay
