Manitoba school board's troubles intensify as 3 trustees quit days after superintendent fired

Inner turmoil of a Manitoba school board currently under a provincial review has exploded as three trustees say they're resigning just days after other board members voted to fire the superintendent.

Stephen Jaddock has been removed from his role as superintendent of the Dauphin-based Mountain View School Division (MVSD), according to a Monday news release from the division's board of trustees.

Jaddock told CBC that a vote held in a special board meeting Friday resulted in his "termination without cause," but declined to comment further.

Trustees Jason Gryba, John Taylor, Kerri Wieler, and Paul Coffey voted to remove Jaddock during that meeting, according to Leifa Misko — one of three trustees who did not attend the Friday in-person meeting but notified the board of their resignation on Monday morning.

Misko says the board's current environment has made it "very difficult" to properly represent all of the communities and students that the division is supposed to.

"Not all voices have been appreciated, respected or welcomed at that board table," she told CBC on Monday. "It was no longer effective to remain sitting at the board table."

The board member of 13 years says the group has always been able to work together, even through disagreements, for the betterment of all students.

"This past year has not been the case," Misko said. "It has not improved. It's gotten worse."

Floyd Martens, who served on the board of trustees since 1992, shared his notice of resignation with CBC on Monday. He told the board in an emailed statement that his departure was "effective immediately."

"The conduct I have witnessed by board members is not something I can support or continue to be associated with," the statement said.

The board's longest-serving member says it was not an easy decision to leave, but the school board's recent troubles do not benefit the communities they serve in any way.

"The [provincial] government initiated a review of the school division," he said Monday. "I think we should hear the results … and see any solutions that the province may have in regards to restoring Mountain View."

Both Martens and Misko declined to comment on what led to Jaddock's firing. Scott McCallum, another board member, also resigned following the firing.

The province launched a governance review of MVSD in April, after trustee Paul Coffey questioned funds for reconciliation initiatives, said residential schools "were good" and that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is causing division during a board meeting that month.