INNISFAIL - Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) trustees and staff have reviewed the division’s public interest disclosures and duty to report procedure.
The review came during the board’s recent regularly scheduled meeting, held at the division’s headquarters in Red Deer.
The 10,400-student division includes schools in Olds and Innisfail.
“As per legislation, every year we need to inform all staff about this administrative procedure,” superintendent Kathleen Finnigan told the Albertan. “Therefore all principals inform staff and senior administrators and let trustees and central office know of this legislation.”
The procedure is in place to assist individuals who believe they have discovered serious wrongdoings provided they make disclosure in accordance with the administrative procedure and applicable code of ethics.
A review of the procedure is conducted at the beginning of every school, noting all staff in the division are also made aware of the procedure at school start-up, she said.
“Employees must be able to confidentially express their reasonable concerns about unlawful or dishonest acts or misuse of division property,” she said. “Every employee must have the means to report such conduct to the appropriate person.”
The secretary/treasurer is the officer in the division designated to manage and investigate disclosures under the procedure.
The procedure states that “an employee who in good faith makes a disclosure under the procedure will not be subject to any threats of dismissal, layoff, suspension, demotion, transfer, discontinuation or elimination of a job, change of job location, reduction in wages, change in hours of work or reprimand or any other measures that adversely affects the employee’s employment or working conditions.”
Following the review at the recent board meeting, trustees did not recommend any changes to the procedure for the 2023-24 school year, she said.
The provincial Public Interest Disclosure Act requires all school divisions to have public interest disclosure/duty to report procedures.
The act itself is in place to “facilitate the disclosure and investigation of significant and serious mattress in or relating to public entities, including school boards, that an employee believes may be unlawful, dangerous to the public or injurious to the public interest.”
It is also in place to "promote public confidence in the administration of public entities and protect employees who make the disclosures."
