CBE trustees approve controversial new policies
Calgary Board of Education trustees voted on March 6 to implement new procedures that critics say reduce public oversight and input into board decisions.
“There’s a lot of things that won’t see the light of day in a public way” says Larry Leach chair of the Association for Responsive Trusteeship in Calgary Schools (ARTICS).
The board voted to increase the amount of time alloted to private meetings and to prevent trustees from bringing forward motions that aren’t approved in advance by a majority of the board. There will still be time for the public to raise issues at meetings but the alloted time has been moved from the beginning of the meetings to the end.
Leach says that increased awareness about the board is likely one of the reasons for the new measures. “Now that there’s a bit of public scrutiny now that there’s more media attention now that there’s our group out there they’re not really sure how to handle it” he says.
