School board will reconsider trustee sanctions
Pressure for action continues to build following report that found evidence of racism
Questions remain about what sanctions — if any — school board trustees at the centre of a racism probe might face, as the leader of Ontario’s Liberal party calls for their resignation.
On Monday evening, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustees voted to reconsider their decision last week to not sanction four trustees after a report found evidence of racism as well as efforts to silence the voice of former student trustee Ahona Mehdi.
Mehdi has since named the trustees — whose names were not specified in the report — as Kathy Archer, Becky Buck, Alex Johnstone and Carole Paikin Miller.
The Spec reached out to the trustees Tuesday for comment. Just Johnstone responded to say she plans to comment Wednesday.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear if and when trustees will face sanctions, what the sanctions could include and if the sanction decision-making process will be public. It’s also unclear if trustees who could face sanctions would be allowed to vote on any motions relating to their own punishment.
In an email response to The Spectator’s questions about possible sanctions, board chair Dawn Danko said: “We will provide an update if trustees vote in favour of additional sanctions or disciplinary action in response to the report.” She did not provide a timeline for discussion or a vote, nor did she say if the board will commit to public discussion, rather than private.
In last week’s vote to not impose “further sanctions” on the trustees and keep the report anonymous, three of the four trustees in question voted in favour. Just Johnstone declared a conflict of interest and recused herself. At Monday’s vote, Johnstone and Buck recused themselves. Archer was not present. Paikin Miller did vote. The motion passed unanimously.
Danko provided a link to Ontario’s Education Act for information on “enforcement.” The act states that if the board determines a trustee has breached the board’s code of conduct, the board may: censor the member, bar the member from attending all or part of a board meeting, and/or bar the member from sitting on board committees.
Meanwhile, Steven Del Duca, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, is calling on the trustees to step down.
“While this kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable for anybody ... I find it to be particularly appalling coming from people who are responsible for public education,” Del Duca said in an interview with The Spec. By continuing to hold positions of power, the trustees send a message “that there’s no accountability or accepting of personal responsibility for one’s actions, one’s language.”