Patti Bacchus, who said she will not run for either a school-board or a council seat in the October by-election, has always maintained that it was her job to ask tough questions on behalf of parents.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
The Vancouver School Board will have a new slate of trustees this fall, but several former members worry the end result could simply be a return to the dysfunction that culminated in the provincial government firing all of the trustees last year.
British Columbia's new NDP government has called a by-election for Oct. 14, roughly a year after the previous Liberal government dismissed the city's nine elected school trustees over their refusal to pass a balanced budget. The firing came amid allegations of bullying and harassment.
Ken Denike, who was first elected as a school-board trustee in 1984, but lost his seat in 2014, said none of the problems that were apparent with the previous board have been resolved, making for a rancorous rematch in October's election.
"I don't think it is going to be a pleasant election," said Mr. Denike, who added all three of the parties that made up the most recent board will share the blame for what happened.
"Vision, the NPA and Green are going to get toasted after the mess they made."
Several previous trustees, whether they are running again or not, also expressed concern about the possibility of the campaign and the new board being damaged by the ongoing friction.
The school board that had been elected in November, 2014, was split evenly between the centre-left Vision Vancouver, the centre-right NPA and one Green Party trustee.
It was dysfunctional from Day 1, as the chairmanship of the board changed twice in three years because of shifting allegiances and internal disagreements. It ended in complete disarray when then-education minister Mike Bernier fired the board in October of last year. That came four months after Vision and Green trustees refused to pass a balanced budget and after several weeks of accusations that staff had been bullied and harassed by some board members during an emotional and difficult series of meetings over school closings.
A report from WorkSafeBC, the province's workers compensation board, later determined some board members caused staff to feel humiliated and intimidated, in part because the board voted to have school-population projections done by staff reviewed by Vancouver city planners and because some trustees "exhibited negative body language," after they were told staff turned over their e-mails to a special adviser appointed by the province.
Another investigation initiated by the school district itself singled out former chair Patti Bacchus, a Vision member, for criticism, because she made three motions that essentially demanded that staff redo work that had taken them months, which they felt "threw them under the bus." It also criticized then-chair Mike Lombardi, also from Vision, for failing to maintain a respectful atmosphere and order at meetings.
Former NPA trustee Stacy Robertson said he hasn't made a final decision, but is leaning against running, in part because he feels the situation that created the previous problems hasn't been addressed. He said the trustees responsible for the bullying haven't been held to account. He said the provincial government should ensure elected officials fall under WorkSafeBC's jurisdiction.
The former Liberal education minister also fired the North Okanagan-Shuswap school board in June of last year, citing financial problems and what the ministry described as a loss of public confidence. The NDP government has not called a by-election there.
Ms. Bacchus, who said she will not run for either a school-board or a council seat in the October by-election, has always maintained that it was her job to ask tough questions on behalf of parents, who were demanding the information she requested at the board. Ms. Bacchus got the highest number of votes of any of the trustees in the 2014 election.
She said she hopes that a new board can "rebuild relationships that have been badly damaged … by the Liberal government."
She and other Vision trustees have said the province put the district under enormous stress in 2016 by requiring it to close schools in order to meet new conditions for receiving money to do seismic upgrades.
"The opportunity now [with a new NDP government] to rebuild and re-invest is great, but if people are fighting with each other, it becomes a lost opportunity."
Former Vision trustees Joy Alexander and Mr. Lombardi have indicated they plan to run again, and others, such as Allan Wong and Ken Clement, are widely expected to as well.
Among the NPA, Chris Richardson said he is leaning toward running again but Penny Noble said she won't. Instead, Ms. Noble is going to try to get an NPA nomination for the city council seat.
She said the school board's whole governance system "needs a real revisit," because there were so many committees and committee meetings that it was exhausting staff and trustees.
Green Party trustee Janet Fraser is planning to put her name up again, saying she learned a lot in the two years she was on the board, and that she thinks the situation will be better because there is a new provincial government in place with a strong commitment to education.
Frances Bula