Shake up the school board

Candidates divided themselves into 2 groups

Most people won’t use the words “exciting” and “school board” forum in the same sentence, but Tuesday night at the Lakeside was an exception. For the first time in four years, the two incumbents had to answer to a secretive 23 per cent pay raise for the superintendent, turning down the provincial government for a “Special Advisor” to study their operations, the one-employee policy and the fact employees were docked a day’s pay when they failed to show up to work on the morning of Penticton’s worst snowstorm in 30 years.

It began on a positive note. Each of the seven candidates vying for four spots as Penticton’s representatives on the Okanagan Skaha School District outlined their past community involvement. Very impressive, indeed.

They unanimously support SOGI 123, a set of resources to assist teachers and principals with sexual orientation and gender identification issues.

That’s extremely positive. Across the province there are 33 candidates opposing SOGI 123, including Lee-Ann Tiede in Kelowna. It was all downhill from there. Incumbents Shelley Clarke and Barb Sheppard continually defended the board’s position on everything, which, I suppose they had to.

Clarke admits to voting down the Special Advisor for fear they would come in and fire the school board, as the province did in Salmon Arm. That’s worse than Trump!

The board didn’t want any advice, but then candidate Teresa Hebert spoke about how important it is for trustee professional development.

The key moment came when the panel was asked if they agreed with a 23 per cent pay raise for the superintendent in the same year the teachers and CUPE members received 1 and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Clarke, Sheppard, Hebert and Derek Hurst thought it was fine. James Palanio, Tracy Van Raes and Dan Walton objected.

Walton considered it extremely poor optics because only a few months later, the trustees (minus Bruce Johnson and Bill Bidlake) voted to close schools in Trout Creek, West Bench and McNicoll Park.

Clarke later said Trout Creek and West Bench didn’t close. Yes, because of MLA Dan Ashton, not the trustees!

Hebert, a former trustee in the valley, and Hurst, a former D-PAC chair, seem to think the board is doing a great job.

Palanio, Van Raes and Walton were far more critical.

Van Raes stole the show, she was by far the best candidate on the podium.

Clarke and Sheppard are extremely nice people — perhaps, too nice to be in politics.

It’s too cozy of relationship at the school board office.

The superintendent sat in the gallery alongside Kaleden trustee Ginny Manning and Summerland trustees Julie Planiden (who lives in Oliver) and Linda Van Alpen. Only one of them clapped when Johnson was introduced, a man who has been publicly fighting pancreatic cancer for two years.

They kept meticulous notes. They offered icy glares.

So the question to the voters — and parents in particular — is, if you think things are great at the school board office, vote for all of the existing trustees.

If you want a change in dynamics and a fresh new look, consider voting for Palanio, Van Raes and Walton in Penticton, Kathy Pierre in Kaleden/West Bench/Naramata and David Stathers and Peter Waterman in Summerland.

We can’t have another four years of “whoopsies.”

—James Miller Valley Editor