Latest news with #GreaterVictoriaSchoolBoard
CBC
01-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Fired B.C. school trustees going to court to try to get their jobs back
Social Sharing The Greater Victoria school trustees who were fired by the province in January have filed a court petition to try to get their jobs back. The nine trustees, who were elected to the Greater Victoria School Board in 2022, were dismissed after months of dispute with the Education Ministry over student safety. In court documents filed Monday, March 31, the trustees allege that their firing and the two ministerial orders that led to it were unfair, in bad faith, and outside of the minister's jurisdiction. They're asking a judge to review and set aside the ministerial orders and reinstate their positions on the board. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Education Minister Lisa Beare said the former trustees have a right to file such a petition, but that she's confident in the decision she made. Firing followed a series of ministerial orders The disagreement began last year after police, local First Nations, and parents raised concerns about safety in schools. They said there was a rise in gang activity, drugs and sextortion in schools since the school board cancelled its school police liaison officer program in 2023. In September, then-education minister Rachna Singh ordered the school board to work with local police to create a safety plan. In December, after receiving the plan, new Education Minister Lisa Beare said it wasn't satisfactory and appointed a special adviser to work with the board to revise it. The special adviser and the school board disagreed on what to include in the new plan, and the education minister ended up dismissing the board on Jan. 30, replacing it with a single trustee who will stay in place until the next general election in 2026. In their court petition, fired trustees Nicole Duncan, Karin Kwan, Natalie Baillaut, Angela Carmichael, Mavis David, Derek Gagnon, Emily Mahbobi, Diane McNally, and Rob Paynter, allege the ministry's actions were rooted in a desire to force school police liaison officers (SPLOs) back into the district's schools — something they argue the minister has no right to do. "The orders are part of the same procedurally unfair process initiated by the Minister for the purpose of re-instating the SPLO Program in SD61 without the Minister being seen to have done so," states the petition. For her part, Beare says the decisions were never specifically about liaison officers but about school safety more broadly. "This was never about SPLOs," Beare told CBC News. "This was about the board being given multiple chances over a number of years to meet the needs of the students and provide a safety plan to update their policies in the district to ensure that students were being kept safe, and the board failed to do that." Next steps The former trustees' petition has yet to be heard in B.C. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the newly appointed trustee, Sherri Bell, signed off on a new safety plan at a school district meeting on March 31, which the province will now review.
CBC
04-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
B.C. has effectively made police liaisons in schools mandatory: human rights commissioner
Social Sharing When the British Columbia government fired the Greater Victoria School Board last week, it effectively made police liaison programs mandatory in schools while failing to provide a factual basis for the decision, the B.C. Human Rights commissioner said in a letter. Kasari Govender said in the letter to Education Minister Lisa Beare and Public Safety Minister Gary Begg that failure to fund research into the matter is contrary to the government's human rights obligations "and undermines its stated values to combat racism." The letter dated Monday came after Beare fired the entire elected board of School District No. 61 last Thursday over its refusal to allow police in schools except in emergencies. Neither Beare nor Begg were immediately available for comment. "The decision to fire SD61 board members — and effectively make [school police liaison officer] programs mandatory across the province — was ostensibly based on concerns about student safety, and yet the lack of transparency in this process belies a commitment to evidence-based decision-making," Govender said. The commissioner said there are "significant gaps" in evidence supporting school police liaison officers, and there is not enough research to say definitively whether police presence in schools keeps young people safe and thriving. "What is being called into question is the benefit of the role of police when the objective is simply to build relationships with children and youth, and if it outweighs the potential harms," Govender wrote. It is "past time" for funding of research into police in schools, and that an evidence-based policy is more effective and likely to avoid bias, Govender said. Months of controversy The former board of the school district said its ban on police was based on reports that some students and teachers — particularly those who are Indigenous or people of colour — did not feel safe with officers in schools. But the decision was questioned by several community groups, including three area municipalities and the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations, which said they tried, unsuccesfully, to work with the board on their concerns. In December, Beare appointed former Abbotsford School District superintendent Kevin Godden to work with the board on creating a safety plan with input from community groups. In that report, dated Jan. 10, Godden described a school board unwilling or unable to take feedback from himself or the community. He said his efforts were stymied by the board, which often seemed disinterested in working on a safety plan or would surprise staff with requests for revisions — including one instance, he said, where the school district's superintendent was asked to redraft the entire plan in a single day. "Poor governance erodes trust and diminishes public confidence in the education system," he wrote. Following that report, Beare appointed a lone trustee to oversee the district until municipal elections set for the fall of 2026. She said last week that students in the Victoria district were at risk from the board's failure to implement a revised safety plan.
