Former Saskatoon teacher at bankrupt post-secondary school speaks out | 24CA News
A former teacher at a Saskatoon post-secondary faculty has come ahead, saying the provincial authorities has accused her of withholding pupil documentation.
On April 28, McKay Career Training filed for chapter and ushered employees and college students right into a room to inform them over the cellphone they’d not be finishing their levels and everybody was to be escorted out.
“It was a jarring moment,” stated Rebecca Ehlert, former director of the Mental Health and First Responder Program at McKay.
An official memo was later despatched to the scholars and employees saying the college’s Certificate of Registration had been cancelled and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Advanced Education could be exploring choices accessible to compensate and/or end the coaching of all these affected.
Thirty college students have been enrolled on the time of the closure.
In order to switch college students, the ministry requested transcripts and progress studies of every pupil from their instructors.
“We didn’t have access to physical documentation or records, at least I did not,” Ehlert stated.
She stated when the chapter course of started, a consultant from the chapter company seized all pupil recordsdata and documentation on web site and instructors have been locked out of any on-line accounts related to McKay.
In an electronic mail to a former pupil which was shared with Global News, the ministry accused Ehlert of withholding pupil documentation of her personal selecting.
“Instructors were asked to compile the records for current students and give them to us,” the e-mail learn. “Your instructor chose not to do that and so while we have been in contact with her several times to request it, she has yet to provide us with anything.”
Ehlert supplied Global News with electronic mail threads that proved she informed the ministry on two separate events that she didn’t have the studies and transcripts they have been requesting.
“We as instructors (at the very least, I) did not receive physical copies. A majority of work submitted by the students had been online. The moment the bankruptcy was confirmed, all access to online accounts and documents were lost. MNP informed me that they have all of the information you’re seeking (regarding transcripts and previous grade distribution),” learn an electronic mail from McKay on June 1.
On June 8, she confirmed in an electronic mail to the ministry that, once more, she didn’t have what they have been searching for.
Ehlert additionally claimed she made her lack of entry to documentation identified throughout one cellphone name and one digital assembly with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT), a faculty to which the ministry is attempting to switch McKay college students.
“As part of this effort, the Ministry of Advanced Education is in the process of collecting student files. We appreciate the willingness of teachers to assist as we collect information about a student’s progress in the current school year. Gathering this information can assist in identifying potential options for students to continue their studies,” the ministry informed Global News after they requested concerning the scenario.
Even if the documenters have been in her possession, Ehlert stated they’d not be related resulting from a revamping of curriculum outlines. This was news that got here as a shock to the ministry.
When Ehlert started as an teacher on the faculty six months in the past, she was tasked by the college with growing a brand new curriculum for the scholars; a job that must be cleared and authorized by the ministry.
“I was informed that the ministry was aware, but they were not aware of that curriculum shift,” Ehlert stated.
In an electronic mail assertion to Global News, the ministry confirmed that they authorized a curriculum previous to the 2022-2023 faculty yr that they have been underneath the impression was being carried out.
Ehlert started instructing the curriculum she developed midway by means of the yr.
“During the school closure process in April 2023, the instructor advised the ministry that she had made changes to the program, which seemingly occurred during the 2022-23 academic year. The ministry had not received a request from McKay Career Training to revise the approved program; if changes occurred the ministry was unaware of this,” the assertion learn.
Ehlert claimed the creation of a brand new curriculum was green-lit by her supervisor.
“Those grades, those structures, that understanding of the graduation process might not have even been valid at that point,” Ehlert stated.
She informed the ministry that any transcripts or pupil progress studies she would have been capable of present, had they been in her possession, would have been ineffective, as the college was working on an unapproved program.
“Anything I could have provided would have likely been null to you, as you were evidently unaware that McKay had cleared a curriculum restructure – the grades and exams were as well restructured in that process,” learn Ehlert’s electronic mail to the ministry.
“The information you are seeking from me wouldn’t line up with the program McKay had been offering from a documentation perspective.”
In the identical electronic mail, Ehlert stated she would have the ability to ‘fast-track’ the curriculum and have college students earn their diplomas in three months if initiated instantly.
Throughout all the chapter course of, Ehlert stated she has remained clear along with her former college students.
“This city is in a very notable crisis with substance misuse and mental health fields and these were able-bodied individuals that were going to go into the field and assist with that. They were ready, willing and passionate, and now that has been severed with a $30,000 price tag.”
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