School trustees worry Bill 11 would give the education minister power to fire, replace them
Posted March 27, 2015 10:49 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Some elected school board trustees are calling a new bill which would give the education minister new powers to dismiss them unnecessary.
Given school board trustees can already get the boot from voters, Vancouver School Board trustee Patti Bacchus questions the need for this new ministerial power.
“People have the opportunity to hold them accountable at the ballot box,” says Bacchus. “They elect them to do a job; they elect them to represent them locally. And now we have government wanting broader powers to direct what those elected officials should be doing.”
The new bill would allow the education minister to give direction to school boards if he believes it’s in the public interest or if it’s not fulfilling its obligations.
“At first glance, this new bill, Bill 11, does provide expanded powers for the minister to not only remove elected school boards, but to direct them to do certain things,” says Bacchus.
And if boards fail to follow those instructions, the bill allows the minister to fire trustees and appoint replacements.
