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Could fired Vision Vancouver trustees return?

With the balance of power in Victoria about to shift, ousted Vision Vancouver school trustees are poised to test the theory that you can never go home again.
vision vancouver trustees
Vision trustees, shown here at press conference after learning they had been fired, would like to return to their school board jobs. Photo Dan Toulgoet

With the balance of power in Victoria about to shift, ousted Vision Vancouver school trustees are poised to test the theory that you can never go home again.

Both Patti Bacchus and former board chair Mike Lombardi have confirmed to the Courier their intentions to return to their previous posts, whether it be by provincial reinstatement or via a byelection. Lombardi also suggested that the two other Vision trustees, Allan Wong and Joy Alexander, want to return to the job as well.

The lead up to last month’s election saw promises from both the Greens and NDP to explore one of those two options.

“Ever since we got dismissed I’ve attended almost every board meeting [and] committee meeting, had conversations with senior staff and continued to follow the events and education and look forward to continuing to make a contribution,” Lombardi said. “I’m someone who can get along with everybody and maintain good relationships. I look forward to keeping those going.”

As recently as this week, rumblings came from the Vancouver School Board (VSB) that the potential of ex-trustees returning to the job has caused anxiety amongst senior staff. Reports prepared by WorkSafe BC and Vancouver attorney Roslyn Goldner found that former trustees bullied and harassed senior staff to the point of creating a “toxic working environment.”

The Goldner report specifically points to fired trustees attending board meetings after their dismissal, noting their presence as being “inappropriate and intimidating.”

Official trustee Dianne Turner spoke to the potential of ex-trustees returning to the job on June 5 when announcing the resignation of superintendent Scott Robinson.

“Many of us have heard repeatedly from parents, teachers and staff that they value the safe and respectful system that has been created since the departure of the previous board — and we can’t go back,” she said.

In a news release issued to announce his resignation, Robinson alluded to the toxic working environment at the district as one of the main drivers of his decision.

“My passion as an educator has always been to collaborate with and empower my colleagues, staff and parents to work together to do what is right for our students,” he said. “Increasingly over the past year, it became more challenging to retain focus on this.”

The Goldner report suggests the partisan makeup of the former nine-person board continually undermined the work of senior staff for an extended 18-month period. The report was based on interviews with all of the former trustees, senior staff and other witnesses. It points to a highly charged meeting in September of last year around school closures that prompted six senior staff members to go on sick leave.

“The justification provided by the Vision trustees for their actions on September 26th does not withstand scrutiny,” the Goldner report states. “It is not credible that they were merely meeting their obligations as trustees and exercising due diligence. The evidence supports the claims that their interest was in pursuing a political agenda rather than supporting the prior decision of the board and the recommendations of the senior staff.”

Bacchus disputes those claims and Goldner’s findings.

“I have a lot of respect for senior staff and played a key role in hiring them,” she said. “In the six years I chaired the board we had excellent relationships, so much so that when the current team went on leave the former superintendent and secretary treasurer dropped everything and came back to help us.”

Three plausible scenarios could play out as it relates to the trustees in question: a byelection, reinstatement of the ousted trustees or maintaining the status quo until the October 2018 municipal election. Education Minister Mike Bernier has said Turner will remain as the official trustee until at least the end of this year, if not beyond.

Which path the provincial Greens and NDP are likely to take isn’t clear. NDP deputy director Glen Sanford told the Courier last week that a decision hadn’t been made yet.  A request for comment from education critic Rob Fleming was not returned.

“My hope is that a democratic process happens and brings in a board who is absolutely excited to work with staff to make the Vancouver school board as vibrant as they possibly can,” Turner said on June 5.

Green Party member and former trustee Janet Fraser isn’t sure what direction the Greens prefer. Her decision to run in a potential byelection would depend on who else was running and what the composition of the board would look like.

“Being a politician is pretty hard on my family but once you’ve been involved at the district for a while and you understand a lot of the issues, I’d find it quite hard to step back from that,” she said.

An email requesting comment from former NPA trustees Stacy Robertson and Fraser Ballantyne was not returned. Christopher Richardson told the Courier he’s on the fence about returning to public office. His NPA colleague Penny Noble told the Courier in March that she has no intention of returning to the board.

The rancour at the VSB was set in motion by a letter sent to the education ministry by B.C. School Superintendents Association (BCSSA) president Sherry Elwood last fall. The letter alleged that senior managers were subjected to bullying and harassment.

Current BCSSA president Thomas Longridge had this to say on ex-trustees returning to their old jobs:

“The BC School Superintendent’s Association is concerned with the emotional wellbeing of its members and ensuring senior leadership have a safe and respectful environment in which to work.  As expressed in both the WorkSafe BC investigative report and the independent report prepared by Rosyln Goldner of Goldner Law Corporation, that was not deemed to be the case with the Vancouver School Board.”

The district is in the process of revising its policies around harassment and bullying to specifically include the conduct of trustees. Those plans will be unveiled at the June 26 board meeting.

jkurucz@vancourier.com
@JohnKurucz