PUBLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEES CAN BE THERE IN VOICE ONLY
Participating in board meetings via telephone no longer the exception
“You’ve reached the voice mail of trustee Gale Simko-Hatfield with the public school board,” the message begins.
“Sorry that I can’t take your call personally. And I also right now can’t check my messages on this phone. If you have a situation with regard to the school board, please contact the director’s office.…”
Simko-Hatfield, a veteran trustee of two decades and former chairman, hasn’t been at most board meetings since December. She participated by phone, returning this week. Simko-Hatfield has attended at least eight board meetings by phone since re-election in 2014. She missed seven meetings altogether and declared a conflict of interest 14 times, on the board’s budget, labour negotiations and closing schools, because she had a relative who worked for the board.
“Sometimes life occurrences prevent trustees from attending a meeting in person,” Hatfield said by email, regarding teleconferencing.
She did not say what the “life occurrences” were. She missed some meetings altogether because of a medical leave approved by the board, she stated. She also stated she has significantly fewer conflicts now because circumstances have changed.
Trustee Tom Kilpatrick, another veteran of three decades and former chairman, also hasn’t been at a board meeting since December. He participates by phone, too. He attended 16 meetings by phone this term, including the last five. He’s in Florida. He has spent his winters in Florida “for a number of years,” he said, by phone.
“I’d like to attend physically more meetings, but it just hasn’t worked out that way,” he said.
He admits that’s a lot of meetings to attend by phone. He knows the board’s policy “says you should be there.” He knows teleconferencing is supposed to be an exception. He says his circumstances are exceptional, though he admits “for other people they may not be.”
He could stay here, he said, but “I’m in my 74th year. I’ve had some physical problems. I try to take care of myself.”
Being a trustee is a part-time job, he said. There isn’t a lot to do at some meetings, and there are usually few people in the audience.
It’s expensive to come home for meetings when he can participate “as efficiently” by phone, he said. He checks his messages “every couple of days.” He has email. The board has his cellphone number. Only three constituents called him this winter. No one has complained, he said. It’s probably a testament to how little attention people pay to school boards.
“I apologize if my constituents find that’s not appropriate,” he said. But he’s not changing. “At this stage of my life, that is the way I have to conduct being a trustee.” He said it’s enough. “I think I contribute to the board,” he said. “As long as I do that, I’ll be a trustee.”
Teleconferencing is common at public school board meetings, where trustees earn $11,745 a year. It’s especially common at extra meetings. Every trustee except Kim McKinley, the current chairman, has done it this term. Trustee Julia Burgess did it 10 times, trustee Dave Taves eight times.
Five of the 10 trustees participated in a meeting last March by phone and two were absent. That left only three actually at the table. Six trustees — more than half — have participated by phone at some meetings.
Trustees must be present at only three meetings over 12 months, under Ontario’s Education Act. Only two board members — the chairman or a designate and one trustee — plus the director or a designate have to be at a meeting.
The board allows teleconferencing, but it’s supposed to be the exception. Trustees are expected to be there.
“I try to schedule vacations between board meetings,” said McKinley. “But that’s me. I ran to be a trustee, be a representative of the community, so I feel strongly about the role I play.
“I think you get the most out of being present at meetings,” she said. “I’m able to better hear and see and be part of the discussion.”
It’s called engagement, and it’s not the same when you’re on a phone.
“There’s a certain detachment if you’re not there in person,” said trustee Alan Halberstadt.
The board should aspire to “higher standards” than the minimum required by the Education Act, he said. Catholic school trustees must be present at twothirds of regular board meetings over 12 months. If they want to teleconference more often, they must provide a “satisfactory” reason — in writing.
Only three Catholic school trustees teleconferenced meetings this term, and two of them did it only once. Veteran trustee Fred Alexander participated by phone for five straight meetings last spring after ankle surgery.
City councillors can teleconference at council meetings. But they don’t do it often. When they do, they can’t vote.
Kilpatrick and Simko-Hatfield criticized former trustee Shelley Harding-Smith for missing and teleconferencing too many meetings last term. Neither McKinley nor Halberstadt would “judge,” as McKinley said, their colleagues’ attendance this term.
Kilpatrick, who returns next week, seemed to question being questioned. “It will be interesting to see what you do with this, young lady,” he told me.
The issue comes a month after the latest Fraser Institute report on schools showed scores at more than half of public schools here are worse than they were five years ago.
When trustees don’t attend meetings, few trustees demand higher student achievement and few people even know their trustees, “it is time for a major review of the governance of public education,” concluded former education minister Dave Cooke.
I think I contribute to the board. As long as I do that, I’ll be a trustee.