People considering making a run for a new elected school board will have some reading to do as they prepare for the job.
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, official trustee Mike McKay approved 11 new policy initiations, all in preparation for a new board of trustees to be elected this fall.
The policies will set out the role of the board, board delegation of authority, monitoring board performance, trustee code of conduct, conflict of interest, remuneration and expenses, professional development and trustee attendance.
The policy changes are part of a new direction coming in the wake of the June 2016 dismissal of the North Okanagan Shuswap school board. They are designed to provide clarity and direction for the five new trustees who will be elected to form a new school board in the October 2018 municipal vote.
Related Link: North Okanagan-Shuswap school board reduced to five trustees
The dismissal followed the release of special adviser Liz Watson’s report into the governance of the board in the wake of a financial scandal where more than $10 million was transferred from the school district’s operating fund to pay for the costs of the new $9 million school district administration building. At the same time, the board was cutting educational programs and considering school closures, citing a lack of operational funds.
Watson also recommended a change in the structure of the board and the number of trustees, citing strongly held views among those she consulted with that “individual trustees often put the needs of the region they represent, and who elects them, before the needs of the board as a whole.”
Related link: North Okanagan-Shuswap school board dismissed, new trustee appointed
She also pointed to an “eroding trust” between trustees and senior management, as well as serious concerns regarding the openness and transparency of the board, which was compounded by the amount of business being conducted at closed-door meetings.
Secretary-treasurer Nicole Bittante, in initiating these policies, noted the district’s current policy manual does not include a lot of policies that she, and other associations, feel should be in place to guide trustees in their role.
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