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Thursday January 30, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted 11:30 pm | Updated January 31, 2025]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The duly-elected trustees of the Greater Victoria School Board have been dismissed.
Education Minister Lisa Beare made the announcement today in the press theatre at the BC Legislature.
One official trustee has been appointed to serve in the place of the SD61 board until the next province-wide municipal and school board election cycle in October 2026.
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With this move, Beare has stopped what she sees as a renegade school district in its tracks.
“The decision to remove an elected board is a difficult one, but it is necessary to bring our collective focus in School District 61 back to where it belongs – supporting students,” said Beare today.
Beare has set a no-nonsense tone for this entire process, today emphasizing that it was time to get SD61 back on track.
Student safety:
Safety for children in schools come first for all concerned, Beare said today.
She is herself a former school trustee, coming into the role of Minister of Education and Child Care on November 18, 2024.
Evidently there has been more presence of gangs or opportunities for unsafe student experiences in SD61 schools since the SD61 board blocked school liaison officers (i.e. police) from being present in Greater Victoria schools.
Under Section 172(1) of the School Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint an official trustee to conduct the affairs of a school district and replace the current board in specific circumstances. In the case of School District 61, there is evidence that the board did not assist the special adviser, demonstrated significant governance issues and failed to collaborate with partners in the development of a safety plan.
Sherri Bell:
The new standalone SD61 trustee is Sherri Bell. She is a former SD61 school district superintendent and a former president of Camosun College.
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Bell has been appointed as an official trustee to replace the board and carry out its duties and authorities. The official trustee’s appointment takes effect immediately.
In early December 2024, Kevin Godden was appointed as a special adviser to assist the board with developing a revised safety and implementation plan. Godden has been reappointed in his role with School District 61, working with the official trustee to collaborate with community partners to finalize the safety and implementation plans for the school district.
Dispute over police in schools:
The issue of dispute is the SD61 board not developing a school safety plan as was requested by Minister Beare on December 6, 2024.
Today and last month, Beare has not been able to give a fulsome answer as to why SD61 is the only outlier when it comes to having a school safety plan. There are likely some root causes that the SD61 resistance was aiming to surface, that have now been quelled by dismissal of the full board.
Plans in other school districts include access of police as ‘liaison officers’ to be present in schools.
SD61 has expressed concern about the presence of police in schools as possibly being traumatic for some students.
The new plan request by Beare is to include a trauma-informed lens but will now be under the hand of one trustee alone who reports directly to government.
The previous board:
The nine-member SD61 board that was elected in October 2022 was comprised of these trustees (listed in order by number of votes won): Karin Kwan, Nichole Duncan, Angela Carmichael, Rob Paynter, Diane McNally, Mavis David, Natalie Baillaut, Emily Mahbobi, and Derek Gagnon.
All SD61 board meetings in this present term have been held remotely online. Some parents and members of the community have found the SD61 board to be inaccessible.
The board was duly elected but under The School Act school boards are an extension of the province.
Democratic implications:
“This action has serious implications for the role of democratically elected school boards and their ability to respond to community needs and advocate for the public schools and students in their districts,” says the Institute for Public Education in a statement today.
“As stated by the Canadian Association of School Boards, “School boards are an important part of Canada’s political landscape and represent democratic participation in public education. Governing school boards enable local decision making in response to local needs.”
“Additionally, we are worried about the message that the firing of the Greater Victoria School Board sends to students. We believe that it’s very important, especially in a time of increased polarization, for students to learn and practice the skills of dialogue, consensus-building, cooperation and respectful advocacy,” says the Institute for Public Education.
===== RELATED:
- Greater Victoria School District 61 must provide safety plan by Jan 6 (December 6, 2024)
- Education ministry now led by Lisa Beare (November 20, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: K-12 EDUCATION | SD61 SCHOOL DISTRICT | MUNICIPAL & SCHOOL TRUSTEE ELECTIONS 2026