Latest news with #newboard
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Relaunched Isle of Pride group to be LGBTQ+ community 'voice'
A charity which champions equality and inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community has been relaunched, after its activities were paused three years up in 2019, Isle of Pride organised events and promoted inclusion awareness in businesses, schools and healthcare settings over a two-year period before it then agreed it should be wound up to allow for "new ideas".Following a hiatus, a new board of directors has revived the group, announcing plans for a year-round outreach programme and the return of Pride in James Cherry said the new members were keen to work with the island's LGBTQ+ community to "act as a voice" and "signpost people to support". Homosexual acts were decriminalised on the island in 1992, 25 years after England and Wales and 12 years after June 2022, pardons were given to men with historical criminal convictions on the island after an "unqualified apology" was issued by the then chief minister Howard Quayle the previous with the aim of holding a Pride event on the island, more than 8,500 people attended the inaugural parade and festival in in September 2022 the directors confirmed they had "unanimously resolved to wind up Isle of Pride, after considering that the time is right for new ideas to be explored and steered" by the LGBTQ+ community. In a statement, the new team confirmed a refreshed board had been appointed in September 2024, with the new board taking some time to "reaffirm our goals" and work "to get the charity to the place it is now".The group said given the "context of the current political climate around the world" it was "vital that people of marginalised communities have a voice and representation".It was important for the LGBTQ+ community to "stand together, along with our allies, to protect the rights so hard fought for", it new board is set to work in association with a Pride on the Quay event set to take place on 30 August on North Quay in Douglas, with details of a 2026 Pride event expected to be released at a later date.A scheme to deliver education and training initiatives, as well as a safe spaces project, called Chree - which is Manx Gaelic for heart - are also being progressed.A spokesman said it was hoped the programme would bring "more awareness and inclusion for our community and will bring us closer to creating an island society in which no LGBTQ+ person feels alone".Mr Cherry said "no one should be treated differently for who they are, everyone should be able to love who they love".The reboot of the organisation was about "representation" and "telling people there is support and the return of events that celebrate the community", he added. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Agenda change causes disagreements at Champaign school board meeting
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A new board has been seated, but uncertainties remain for the Champaign School District. It was the first meeting in nearly a month, after two of April's planned sessions lacked the members to proceed. But now it's a new board, as the district swore in their newest five members at a special meeting Friday Night. State Senator initiates audit into Discovery Partners Institute after project objective change The meeting was supposed to be a formality with the new board taking their oaths and seats. However, certain questions and concerns from a pair of new board members along with the crowd about next week's agenda made the meeting quite rowdy. 'I know it sounds like it should be a complicated answer, but it's really a simple answer,' said newly elected Board President Tony Bruno. 'Yeah, it's just adults acting like adults for once.' Friday night's Champaign District special meeting began with five new members taking their seats. Christy Arnold, Tony Bruno and Grace Kang will serve four-year terms. 'I'm looking forward to getting the train back on the tracks, and I think we're going to do that pretty soon,' Bruno said. Fatima Ahmed and Justin Michael Hendrix will serve two-year terms. 'It's a privilege to have the trust of so many of the community,' Ahmed said. As the old board exited, the new board got to official business: Selecting Bruno as the Board President for a one-year term. High-speed rail survey could help bring trains through Central Illinois 'That's five for Mr. Bruno, and two for Justin Michael Hendrix,' said the board. Fatima Ahmed was tapped as the board's Vice President for a one-year term as well. 'We got six for member Ahmed, and one for Justin Michael Hendrix,' the board said. But the final hour and a half of the meeting was where things got interesting. The majority of the board decided to throw out the previously set agenda for next week and instead use a new one. The old agenda featured administrative appointments for several schools including Booker T. Washington STEM Academy and Centennial High School. Those appointments never happened with the old board thanks to a lack of attendance for the last month. 'I took them off this proposed agenda because if you vote no, if you feel like you don't have enough information to vote yes, and you vote no, then that person can't be brought back before the school board for six more months,' Bruno said. 'And I think that's wrong.' Concerns over the changed agenda resulted in a disruptive back-and-forth between the board and the crowd, with members Kang and Hendrix echoing the crowd's concerns. Most ramps at I-57, I-74 interchange will be open by year's end, IDOT says 'This agenda, are we approving that together today, or what is happening here?' Kang said. 'This agenda right here sounds like a set up for the new members,' Hendrix said. And next week could remain interesting. New business includes the 'issuance of an RFP for an executive search firm for superintendent.' 'To know that we are deciding to remove a superintendent without my conversation is dangerous,' Hendrix said. This means the new board could soon come with a new superintendent. 'This agenda has been created since April 14 and it is something our team does together, it is not one person, and so, for someone to come in and to bring the agenda to be done and then ask my staff to post it, that is not how things work,' said Superintendent Sheila Boozer. It's a quick turnaround for the next board meeting, which will be Monday, May 12. Among the items discussed will be deciding what happens next with Superintendent Sheila Boozer's job. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
