‘Secret’ board meeting raises concerns

Education Minister Doug Currie says he will ensure the Public Schools Branch board properly publicizes its upcoming public meetings after concerns were raised about a meeting earlier this month that was not advertised.

The meeting of the threemember board of directors was held June 1.

Officials say a notice of the meeting was posted on the Public Schools Branch (PSB) website, but no other measures were taken to advertise it, as has been past practice.

As a result, no one from the public attended. Regulations say board meetings do not have to be publicly advertised. Currie noted the June 1 meeting had only one agenda item and lasted only 10 minutes, but he says going forward he expects future meetings to be open and advertised to the public.

“My expectation is that the board will be open and transparent and be engaged and that they work on public engagement and open and transparent discussions with the public.” A number of other public meetings were held this year on the ‘category II’ school review, but they were solely focused on proposed school closures and rezoning in six families of schools. The board has only held two regular public meetings this year dealing with other education or school matters. Two other scheduled regular meetings were cancelled without explanation.

Currie says the board was busier than usual, due to the school review process.

“I think, in fairness, it’s been a pretty challenging year with the school review, but certainly moving forward I’ve got confidence that the board will be very consistent.”

Opposition education critic Steven Myers says this highlights the need for an elected school board.

He also pointed to the recent appointment of Dale Sabean to the board of directors, who replaced Pat Mella after she resigned in April. No competitive process was held for the position, and it was only publicly announced last week, despite the fact Sabean’s appointment took effect on May 15.