In January 1996, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador committed to consulting the public on educational reform. This promise was communicated to the public through a document released by the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador titled Ready for a Better Tomorrow: Platform of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador. This document stated that "The new Liberal government is committed to dialogue and discussion on all elements of implementing education reform before decisions are made," and went on to say that "There will be extensive public consultation before any new school viability rules are adopted."
In keeping with this commitment, the Department of Education circulated, province-wide, a public consultation document entitled Structuring the Education System: A Public Consultation Paper for Educational Change in Newfoundland and Labrador, and announced that 16 public consultations would be held throughout the Province starting on September 16, 1996. Three additional meetings were later scheduled as a result of public interest.
All 19 meetings were attended by the Honourable Roger Grimes, Minister of Education, who heard more than 250 presentations on a range of educational topics but centering primarily on the issues of school viability, the designation of uni-denominational schools and student transportation. Meetings were attended by nearly 5,000 people and followed by many more through media reports and cable television broadcasts.
In addition to submissions presented at the meetings, many individuals completed the Response Form contained on the final page of the consultation document. This form consisted of nine statements with which people were asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement and one open-ended "Additional Comments" section. The statements pertained to school viability, school busing and the designation of schools as uni-denominational or interdenominational.
In discussions with the school principals in advance of the various consultation meetings, many principals suggested that the Department of Education does a poor job communicating with schools. Several principals said that the Department does not effectively communicate its decisions and that the Department frequently reverses its decisions causing a severe credibility problem. They suggested that the Department take immediate action to correct this situation.
All consultation meetings were held in school gymnasiums or auditoriums. With the exception of the St. John s meeting, where priority was given to provincially-based organizations and the Mount Pearl meeting, where school-based groups were given priority, there was no set order to presentations. People were asked to come forward as they felt comfortable and were given the option of sitting at a table facing the Minister or at a podium facing the audience. Presenters were urged not to let their comments exceed 20 minutes in length. With the exception of the North West River meeting which was held on a Wednesday morning, all meetings were held on weeknights between Monday and Thursday starting at 7:00 p.m. and ending between 9.15 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.