Ruby Wiens has sat on the Hanover School Division’s board of trustees for 12 years, having served three full terms representing Ward 1, which includes her hometown of Niverville as well as Kleefeld, New Bothwell, and the Crystal Springs Hutterite colony.
“My own perspectives have been challenged and I’ve become so much more aware of the ongoing daily realities that our administrators and teachers face,” Wiens says of her experience on the board. “It’s been an exciting time of growth for the division, with the building of two new schools—and a third underway in Niverville. It’s also been frustrating at times when cultural issues polarized our communities and isolated our marginalized LGBTQI kids.”
Wiens says that she feels humbled to have had a voice in many of the division’s weightiest matters over the past decade. She emphasizes the board’s role as a governance body, meaning that their primary role is to draft policies.
“I’m particularly proud of our Respect for Human Diversity Policy that we drafted four and a half years ago in response to Bill 18,” says Wiens.
At the time of its drafting, the policy included protection from discrimination in matter of religion, cultural background, physical disability, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics specified in Manitoba’s Human Rights Code. Recently, she says the division has added protection for transgender students.
“I was very taken aback four and a half years ago when Bill 18 first brought the needs of our gay kids to the forefront,” Wiens says. “They needed a safe and affirming space within the schools in which to meet. The government at that time passed a bill that mandated the formation of student-led gay-straight alliances as a necessary accommodation for every publicly funded school in Manitoba. The resistance and public pushback to this has been disheartening. I do believe that as more conversation and education is being initiated in our division at the board level, and with parents, staff, and community groups, there is increasing acknowledgment that our LGBTQI group is a marginalized one that truly deserves understanding and respect. I was honoured to walk in the first Steinbach Gay Pride Parade in 2016 in support of our LGBTQI students and friends. It was an awesome celebration and a deeply meaningful experience for me.”
Another big highlight was the beginning of construction of the new Niverville high school, a development long in the making.
“Since my second term in 2010, a new school for Niverville has been an agenda item, so to actually now see the physical building taking shape is very gratifying,” she says.
Finally, Wiens is happy to say that meaningful communication has significantly improved between the board and parents. In addition to receiving invaluable feedback through surveys, the division how holds divisional parent council liaison meetings twice per year.
“We’ve held community forums during difficult community transitions,” Wiens explains. “In Niverville, we initiated a forum when we started to move the Grade Fives and Sixes to the NCI campus. We also initiated community forums in New Bothwell and other communities affected by the rural Grade Nines moving to the newly expanded SRSS.”
Wiens concludes by encouraging the various candidates who have stepped forward to join this year’s trustee election.
“I wish you well,” she says. “Please remember that if elected, you are here for all kids, all students. You will serve students and families from very diverse backgrounds. No one should be marginalized or maligned. Only in that context of safety and acceptance can authentic learning truly take place.”