The goings-on at School District #83 over the past week have all the ingredients of a soap opera, minus the romance.
Resignations, apologies, threats of legal action, statements made and then recanted – it’s all been out there.
I joked with one trustee that they should charge admission to Thursday night’s public budget meeting or possibly run a concession, as a way to generate revenue for student services – since it’s the most dramatic show in town.
Three trustees have already resigned, the superintendent is not ruling it out, the remaining board is in disarray and is calling in a special advisor from the Ministry of Education to assist.
Parents are fuming. Taxpayers are angry. The situation is ugly. The consistent message from the school district, both board trustees and staff, was that the new administration building was not funded with operational money used to support students. It was stated, many times that operational and capital budgets were kept separate. But, as we now know, that was not the case.
People are feeling let down at best, lied to at worst.
Trustees have pleaded ignorance of the budget transfer of operation funds to capital and issued a mass mea culpa for the debacle. But it’s not over.
I’m now convinced the best solution now is to start over from scratch. In last week’s column, I held back from calling on the entire board to resign. But after attending Tuesday night’s meeting, I am no longer certain this board can be effective decision-makers for their remaining two years.
This is because every decision this board makes for the next two years is going to be tainted by scandal.
Every time, they cut a program, every time they consider closing a school (because the closure of Silver Creek and Armstrong Elementary are still on the table in 2017), what is going to be remembered is the $10.5 million in surpluses that could have been used to support those programs or fund those classrooms.
That’s going to come up, over and over again.
The public’s message to trustees will be: You failed, and now our kids are paying for it. And an apology just doesn’t cut it.
There are also three seats now open for a by-election, likely in late June. But who in their right mind would hitch their pony to this runaway wagon – especially when the majority of the board remains the same as before?
A new election with a completely open slate could attract a whole host of passionate new candidates. Decisions made by a new board would not carry the stains of the past.
This would also give an opportunity for current trustees to run and see if the electorate still supports them with their votes.
I appreciate board chair Bobbi Johnson’s view that trustees are elected for a set term and they shouldn’t just give up when the going gets tough. But this an entirely unprecedented situation.
It’s time for the remaining six trustees to call it quits. Save the school district money on a special advisor and offer the public a fresh option.