Education Minister Lisa Beare has made good on her warning to members of the Greater Victoria School Board, announcing Thursday that she had dismissed them.
She said the board has had “multiple opportunities” to meet the needs of the community “and this board has not delivered.”
“It has become clear to me that the board has lost the trust of many to govern in the public interest,” Beare said. “The board has refused to work together with local First Nations, police and other key stakeholders to prioritize student safety.”
The move follows an ongoing dispute over the board’s May 2023 decision to cancel the school police liaison program in the district. There were eight school trustees, with the ninth previously suspended because of another matter.
Beare noted that the district has seen an “alarming increase” in gang activity in schools and area police chiefs have been raising concerns.
Former district superintendent and Camosun College president Sherri Bell has been appointed as trustee to carry out the board’s duties until the next school board elections in 2026.
“This is about working in partnership to acknowledge an increasing problem, not about implementing a specific program like the school-liaison police officer program,” Beare said, noting that the Greater Victoria School District is the only one of 60 in 小蓝视频 without a good working relationship with police.
“This is not a decision I take lightly,” said Beare, who is a former school trustee. “I have been very clear on my expectations from the beginning.”
Beare said students and their safety are the focus of every decision she makes as education minister. “If kids do not feel safe at school, their ability learn and to thrive is compromised.”
There has not been a school board firing in 小蓝视频 since 2016, when both the Vancouver and North Okanagan-Shuswap boards were replaced by trustees chosen by the minister.
The Vancouver board’s firing was linked to missing a deadline for producing a balanced budget, while the North Okanagan-Shuswap board was fired over financial concerns.
Under the School Act, the province can appoint an official trustee to replace a board in specific circumstances, the ministry said in a statement.
In the case of the Greater Victoria School District, “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,” it said.
Kevin Godden had been appointed a special adviser to assist the board in revising a school safety plan required by the province, but sent a letter to the minister saying he was unable to fulfil his requirements “based on a series of actions taken by the board that had compromised his ability to assist them,” the statement said.
Former board chair Nicole Duncan could not be reached by the Times Colonist on Thursday. C小蓝视频 News reported that Duncan said in a statement Beare’s decision is “extremely disappointing and profoundly undemocratic.” She said former board members are reviewing the decision and considering next steps.
Other former board members could not be reached or said Duncan should be contacted for comment.
Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association president Carolyn Howe called Beare’s decision “extremely disappointing.”
“I think it’s important to recognize that we’re in extremely volatile political times internationally, and protecting the processes of democracy here at home is extremely important, ” she said. “The board was exercising its rightful authority under the School Act in this process.”
Howe said that a democratically elected school board “should not be dismissed in this manner,” while the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils issued a statement last month saying the board should not be fired.
The board’s May 2023 decision to discontinue its liaison-officer program had become a major point of contention for police, First Nations and parent groups.
The Esquimalt Nation expressed “sincere gratitude” to Beare. “This action reflects the province’s commitment to creating equitable, transparent and culturally responsive systems that meet the needs of Indigenous students,” the nation said in a statement.
Victoria police had temporarily suspended its participation in the program in 2018 for budget reasons but had hoped to bring it back amid rising concerns about gang activity in schools, while Saanich police and West Shore RCMP both had liaison officers in district schools when the program was scrapped.
The board’s stance was in part based on concerns expressed by 小蓝视频 human rights commissioner Kasari Govender that a police presence in schools could be uncomfortable for Black and Indigenous students.
Govender was not available for comment Thursday.
Lori Poppe, who helps to co-ordinate the group Parents and Police Together — which has about 2,200 members — said she is “very happy” with Beare’s decision.
“She’s done an amazing job and I couldn’t be more proud,” Poppe said. “I would really definitely like to see some more collaboration and less divisiveness.”
Spectrum Community School PAC chair Kindree Draper said she has mixed emotions about the firing, but the school board took a position contrary to the views of many parents.
The liaison-officer program seemed effective when it was in place, she said. “Nobody wanted this,” Draper said. “Nobody went into this thinking it would necessarily end up with the minister having to take action.”
Draper said Beare has shown she is committed to student safety in the Greater Victoria School District. “I think this will build a lot of confidence and credibility going forward.”
Victoria Police Chief Del Manak said he was not surprised by Beare’s move. “I am deeply appreciative of Minister Beare and the leadership that she has shown with this file,” he said.
Manak said the department made “continued efforts and attempts” to have meaningful dialogue with the school board. The police chief said he approached the board before it voted to drop liaison officers in 2023 with a proposal to revise the program and deal with any problems some students might have with the presence of officers.
He said it was “extremely frustrating” to see the work police have done in schools to build positive relationships with students and help staff deal with worrisome behaviour “vilified.”
“That eroded the trust of myself and my fellow police chiefs,” he said. “It’s a shame that all the leaders couldn’t come together and put student safety as a top priority.
“We will now be able to do that.”
小蓝视频 Conservative education critic Lynne Block said the firing follows “a long saga of a rogue board ignoring the wishes of parents and rightsholders, who became increasingly concerned about school safety in Greater Victoria.”
She said the firing was “long overdue.”
In response to a request for comment, the district issued a statement saying that it is working alongside Bell and Godden in collaboration with First Nations and other community partners to “finalize and implement a safety plan.”
“Our focus is and always will be students. Providing safe, culturally responsive, and inclusive learning environments that ensure the voices of the community we serve are reflected in our work,” superintendent Deb Whitten said in the statement.
— With Carla Wilson
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
