Education Minister Rob Fleming says he is looking for “a fresh start” with Vancouver’s recently elected nine-member school board and its new superintendent as trustees begin a year in which they must balance a budget in order to stay in office.
The previous board, which didn’t balance its budget, was fired in 2016 by the provincial government, led at the time by the B.C. Liberals and former premier Christy Clark. The firing occurred the same year an independent report concluded some trustees — whose names weren’t revealed — created a toxic workplace and bullied and harassed senior staff.
Four of the fired trustees — the Green Party’s Janet Fraser, the NPA’s Fraser Ballantyne and Vision Vancouver’s Joy Alexander and Allan Wong — were re-elected in an Oct. 14 byelection. All of them denied in their campaigns they were responsible for bullying senior staff or throwing “staff under the bus,” as concluded by lawyer Roslyn Goldner in her report released last February.
“I’m very, very pleased with the quality and composition of the new board,” Fleming told the Courier Jan. 15 after a visit to Vancouver to announce funding for the replacement of David Lloyd George elementary school. “They now have new administrative leadership in the district. What I’ve heard in one-to-one conversations with board trustees and others who work in this district is that people are looking for a fresh start. That’s certainly what we’re looking for as a government.”
The new administrative leadership Fleming was referring to was the hiring of Suzanne Hoffman as superintendent, Jody Langlois as associate superintendent and David Green as secretary-treasurer. Hoffman, who is a former superintendent of the Langley school district, replaced Scott Robinson, who resigned in June 2017. Robinson was among six senior staff who took medical leave the same month the board was fired.
Hoffman had been on the job for five days when the Courier spoke to her following Fleming’s announcement at the elementary school. Asked about coming into a district bruised by controversy and upheaval, Hoffman said her decision to apply for the job in Vancouver was “a conscious one because I was well aware of what had happened historically.”
To some degree, she said, she consulted with Vancouver staff and others about the tumultuous times in the district, but added that she liked to “form my own opinions.” Hoffman emphasized it was up to trustees, staff and the community to work collectively to ensure there is no repeat of the dysfunction revealed in Goldner’s report, which led to WorkSafeBC requiring the board to adhere to its policies on harassment and bullying.
“What I’ve found so far are dedicated, caring committed individuals that want to make a difference in Vancouver,” she said.
Hoffman was present at the Jan. 10 board committee meeting, where she heard Fraser — the board’s chairperson — make a statement about the need for a “safe and respectful workplace.” Rookie NPA trustee Lisa Dominato also introduced a motion at the meeting that aims to clearly define the governance and leadership roles in the district.
“We can acknowledge what happened in the past and think about it, but look forward to what we can do to make things work really well from here on,” Fraser told reporters after the committee meeting. “We are a new board, we were elected by the public. So they’ve shown their confidence in the nine trustees who have been elected. So this is our opportunity to not just put it in words, but to demonstrate in our actions.”
Added Dominato: “There’s a real commitment on the part of this board to ensure we have an environment here where people feel safe, they feel valued, they feel respected and that we’re looking at our own conduct as trustees and how we interact with our senior management team.”
The board typically approves its operating budget in April. Under provincial law, each of the province’s 60 boards must pass a budget by June 30 of each year, or risk being fired.
