First

Session, 47th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2012

BILL 13

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

SCHOOLS ACT, 1997

Received and Read the First Time ...................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ............................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE

CLYDE JACKMAN

Minister of Education

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Schools Act, 1997 to

allow children who were

registered in kindergarten in another jurisdiction and who will be 5 years of

age by the end of the school year to be admitted to kindergarten in the province;

remove the statutory liability

of parents of students who are 19 years of age or older who intentionally or

negligently destroy, damage or lose property of a board or an employee of a

board;

increase the minimum hours of

instruction for students in grades 1 to 3 from 4 hours to 5 hours;

delete references to school

register and replace with school attendance record;

allow the conseil scolaire to

appoint an assistant director for a period of 5 years or less;

allow the director of the

conseil scolaire to be appointed for a period less than 5 years;

require that the appointment of

the director and assistant director of the conseil scolaire and their

employment contracts be subject to the approval of the minister; and

confirm that the minister may

issue policy directives regarding fees for the cost of supplies provided to a

student in a school other than a private school.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SCHOOLS ACT, 1997

Analysis

S.2 Amdt.

Definitions

S.3 Amdt.

Right of access to education

S.21 R&S

Liability for damage

S.28 R&S

School hours

S.34 R&S

School attendance record

S.35 R&S

School attendance record as evidence

S.110 R&S

Directors

S.117 Amdt.

Powers of minister

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

SNL1997 cS-12.2

as amended

1. Paragraph 2(

a) of the Schools Act, 1997 is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) "assistant director" means an

assistant director appointed by a board under

section 79 or the conseil

scolaire under

section 110;

Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (2) the following:

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a board may

admit to an education program a person who is not 5 years of age on December 31

in a school year where he or she

(

a) was enrolled in kindergarten in another

jurisdiction; and

(

b) will be 5 years of age before the end of that

school year.

Section 21 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Liability for damage

(1) Where

property of a board or an employee is destroyed, damaged or lost by the

intentional or negligent act of a student, that student and his or her parents

are individually and collectively liable to the board in respect of the act of

that student.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a parent of a

student who is 19 years of age or older.

Section 28 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

School hours

28. In

each school day the minimum number of hours of instruction for students shall

(

a) for kindergarten, 2.5 hours; and

(

b) for grades 1 to 12, 5 hours.

Section 34 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

School attendance

record

34. A

teacher shall keep a record of student attendance in a manner approved by the

minister.

Section 35 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

School attendance

record as evidence

35. A

copy of the school attendance record maintained in a school or, in the absence

of a school attendance record, a certificate signed by the principal of the

school respecting the attendance record of a student is, in the absence of

evidence to the contrary, admissible in evidence in all courts in a prosecution

for an offence under this Act and is proof of the information contained in the

school attendance record or the certificate without proof of the signature or

of the official capacity of the person who signed the school attendance record

or certificate.

Section 110 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Directors

(1) The

conseil scolaire shall, subject to the prior written approval of the minister,

appoint

(

a) a director; and

(

b) an assistant director of finance and business

administration.

(2) A director and an assistant director shall be

appointed for not more than a 5 year term and, following a satisfactory performance

evaluation by the conseil scolaire, the appointment may be renewed.

(3) The conseil scolaire may terminate the

employment of a director or an assistant director, other than for cause, by

giving him or her 3 months' written notice, and the conseil scolaire shall

report the dismissal in writing to the minister immediately upon giving the

notice.

(4) Notwithstanding that the conseil scolaire may

employ a director or an assistant director under this section, a contract of

employment between the conseil scolaire and a director or an assistant director

shall not be entered into without the prior written approval of that contract

by the minister, and a contract of employment entered into without that approval

shall be void.

Section 117 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subparagraph (b)(viii) the following:

(viii.1) the payment of a fee for the cost of supplies

provided to a student in a school other than a private school,

William E. Parsons, Queen's Printer