Just months after an Edmonton teacher was fired for giving students a zero, Edmonton Public School Board is developing a policy that would allow teachers to give such a grade.
Lynden Dorval told CTV News it was great news for teachers and for students.
“I find through experience that the zero while it may not be perfect it was the best system in terms of motivating the students and showing them that they are accountable,” he said.
Dorval was fired from Ross Shepperd High School after not abiding by their no-zero policy.
“I always expected them to be temporary zeros.”
“It was an indication to the students that they owed me some work,” Dorval said adding the inconsistency between schools was a problem.
The school board seems to agree.
EPSB chair Sarah Hoffman said there was a concern about consistency at the schools.
“What we’ve done is we’ve written a policy that explicitly talks about what our expectations are to ensure consistency, to ensure that all students are held to high standards,” she told CTV News.
“We think we have come up with a policy that will ensure that all students are held to high standards and that they are responsible and ready for the world of work.”
Hoffman said the policy would also address the responsibility of teaching staff to ensure students have learned the material.
“Not only is our responsibility to teach but also to assess whether or not students have learned.”
While Dorval welcomed the news he said he wonders why the decision wasn’t made sooner.
“If it was a bad policy and they are now agreeing to it where were they two months ago? They could have stopped my termination very easily.”
The policy will be presented at the EPSB meeting on Tuesday and will then undergo public consultation before a final policy is presented.
With files from Breanna Karstens-Smith
