The resignation of School District of Mystery Lake superintendent Bev Hammond on Jan. 18 will not have any effect on the grievances filed by former R.D. Parker Collegiate principal Ryan Land or the organizational and planning work the Department of Education is undertaking with the school district.

"I don't think it would be respectful of the grievance process for me to comment other than to say that I have faith in the process and believe that the truth will be revealed," Land told the Thompson Citizen.

Land has taken various actions against the school board for its treatment of him, the Winnipeg Free Press reported in July, including grievances for his firing for cause in June, his removal from the principal's job in February and for the public rebuke he received in April 2010, when his one-year probationary period was extended from one year to two. That grievance was resolved when the school board apologized in September 2010, saying that discussion of personnel issues in public was not appropriate.

The former principal, now the manager of government and public affairs for Vale's Manitoba Operations, has also filed a complaint with the Manitoba ombudsman's office, which has yet to be ruled on. Under the Ombudsman Act of 1970, the ombudsman "may, on a written complaint, or on his initiative, investigate any act, decision, recommendation or omission relating to a matter of administration, by any department or agency of the government whereby any person is, or may be, aggrieved. This includes agencies and departments of the provincial and municipal governments." This complaint may stem from allegations made by Hammond to the Citizen in July that Land was responsible for the changing of students' marks that was revealed by an investigation undertaken by the then-superintendent.

The office of Nancy Allan, minister of education, had no specific comments on the resignation of Hammond but did say that it would not affect the work the department is doing with the Mystery Lake school district.

"This is a personnel matter that rests with the individual and the employing authority," said Naline Rampersad, the minister's press secretary, in an e-mail. "The department continues to work with the school district on its organizational and strategic planning processes to ensure that it (school district) can continue to provide high quality education to students in Thompson. This personnel decision does not change this collaborative effort.”

Alexander Ashton, chair of the Mystery Lake board of trustees, said Hammond's resignation was not expected, but that there were hints that something might be up in the days immediately before her announcement that she was stepping down immediately.

"I can't say much but it wasn't like she walked in and just a complete surprise," said Ashton. "It's pretty sudden. Everything's kind of happening fast."

The board, says Ashton, is confident that assistant superintendents Angèle Bartlett and Lorie Henderson can handle taking on Hammond's responsibilities with help from the trustees and other staff.

"I have absolute faith in our assistant superintendents and the board to fill in the vacuum that's been created by this resignation," he said, adding that the district would be focused on accomplishing unspecified goals in the short term. "We know what we need to accomplish. We're facing a challenging time but we're really goal-oriented."

The board chair also said that it would take some time before the trustees decided when or how they would start looking for a replacement.

"It's pretty obvious that looking for any educational position right now is difficult," Ashton said. "The timing will create challenges. That's just how education is."

He also hinted that a solution to the turnover that's been a thorn in the side of Mystery Lake school district – which has had three superintendents and eight assistant superintendents in the past four years – may be to promote from within.

"A lot of the turnover has been from people who have been from outside of the community," said Ashton, suggesting that people who are residents of Thompson would have a better understanding of the district's demographics and the challenges it faces. "Those are obvious factors which I think would drastically change the turnover rate."