Open letter to Premier John Horgan and Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside:
As a government dedicated to “working for you” please deal with the following issue immediately to free yourselves for the hard work ahead without this out of control distraction and detriment to any work on serving our students and education staff.
Enough! The attack on democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of association and the rule of law is totally ignored by the Chilliwack Board of Education. Every trustee is accountable for the effective management of the board. No trustee has power over another, all are equal in rank and each has one vote. The board chair serves (if that word were understood by this group) at the pleasure of the Board members who may elect or remove the Chair at will. The Chair has only some extra responsibilities, but no power over anyone.
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The duly elected trustees may only be removed by the Minister of Education. As a six term Chilliwack School Trustee I have worked with several Boards whose passion for the education of all Chilliwack students took precedence over the diverse opinions of members. Consensus prevailed because trustees cared more about public education and the students of this community than their personal agendas. Regardless of the hotly held beliefs of any trustee on this Board, all are betraying the trust of this community.
Minister, this Board has provided sufficient evidence of their ineptitude in executing their duties as trustees of our Chilliwack school community and I beseech you to immediately remove them from office.
It must be all, Minister, as it would not be just or in your new government’s best interest to single out any one, all are culpable.
Such a request is not easy to make for someone who believes passionately in the role of school trustee and democracy. The students and amazing staff of the Chilliwack School District deserve better, especially in these times.
Please act now Minister, the students are watching.
Silvia Dyck
Retired Chilliwack School Trustee
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