Luisa D’Amato’s view,
Who needs to pay for soap opera on cable, when we can follow the infighting of school board trustees for free?
They’re all long past high school age, but there’s a distinct whiff of “Mean Girls” (and Boys) about the elected officials who are responsible for the learning and well-being of our children.
Using the board’s thoroughly undemocratic code of conduct as a weapon, trustees ganged up on one of their own, Cindy Watson, five years ago after she failed to challenge a comment critical of a staff member (she said she didn’t hear it).
More recently, trustee Andrea Mitchell became upset when she thought trustee Ted Martin had referred to her by an unladylike term. There was a lengthy investigation complete with legal bill (Martin said he had been misunderstood, and was cleared).
Trustee Mike Ramsay has a penchant for speaking his mind, so he’s faced the kangaroo court twice:
For telling a radio station that board leadership was to blame for trustee infighting which, he claimed, was distracting from their rightful focus on student achievement. He was found to have violated the part of the code that says board members must uphold the reputation of the board.
For a remark about the director of education, John Bryant. Last year, Bryant was asked if he would answer allegations by Ramsay that senior administrators left the board because they were drummed out. Ramsay said: “Not if he’s smart, he won’t.”
After that comment, Ramsay again was the subject of an investigation. (This time, the discussion about which trustees should investigate Ramsay led to one trustee dissolving into tears. No, I’m not making that up.)
Twelve thousand tax dollars later, Ramsay was cleared by an independent investigator, Windsor lawyer Brian Nolan.
Nolan also criticized the code of conduct and said it could limit legitimate debate. He raised concerns about trustee behaviour, including their infighting and being guided not by evidence but by “after-the-fact discussions, hearsay and speculation.”
Predictably, trustees are now trying to hide most of the report from public view, on the dubious grounds that it is confidential legal advice. Oh, please.
My colleague, Jeff Outhit, has read the full report and is pursuing a Freedom of Information request to make it public.
We don’t get much in the way of political scandal here in Waterloo Region, so this would all be great fun — if it wasn’t for the fact that Ramsay’s comment to the radio station was bang on.
These juvenile, pointless shenanigans are absolutely getting in the way of trustees’ focus on our students’ dim prospects in learning. How can they not?
Students are underperforming on standardized tests, and they are dropping out at aboveaverage rates. “There’s so much we could be doing in terms of directly holding staff accountable,” Ramsay told me.
The code of conduct needs to be fixed. It’s draconian, and it stops trustees from doing the jobs we elected them to do.
For example, how can trustees hold anyone accountable when they’re punished for even hearing criticism of a staff member? Isn’t it their job to listen to complaints and concerns?
And how can trustees keep the school board on the straight and narrow if they are prohibited from criticizing its flaws?
Not one more dime of public funds or minute of public attention should be wasted on more infighting.
Trustees need to get a grip on why they were elected. This is their last chance to show they can do their jobs.