Victoria Times Colonist: Editorial: Let the voters decide who should run our schools
- The Times Colonist
- Sep 12
- 3 min read
The nine board members should cease their lawsuit and run instead in the local government elections next October.
As kids in Victoria went back to school last week, they were greeted by police liaison officers for the first time in two years.
In 2023, liaison officers were banned by the Greater Victoria Board of Education. The board argued that some pupils, and even some teachers, felt unsafe around police officers.
After months of efforts by the education ministry to get the decision reversed, Education Minister Lisa Beare fired the board. Former district superintendent and Camosun College president Sherri Bell was appointed as a trustee until the next election.
Unfortunately, that might not be the end of the matter. Nine former school board members have taken the province to court, alleging that their firing was undemocratic and that the minister acted with “improper purpose.”
And they have some support. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender has written to the minister, arguing that she acted without adequate evidence of the need for liaison officers.
In particular, Govender noted that many Indigenous children are fearful in the presence of police officers. And she urged that the funds used to run the liaison program should be employed instead to hire “civilians” in that role.
Subsequently, Justice Lindsay LeBlanc, who is hearing the case, granted the B.C. Civil Liberties Association intervenor status, also in support of the school board members.
The association claims that having police on school grounds violates fundamental rights.
None of these arguments carries weight.
There can be no question that the minister acted within her authority in firing the board. The School Act states, “The minister may, by order, issue an administrative directive to a board if the minister believes … it is in the public interest to do so …. Failure to comply … is grounds for the appointment of an official trustee.”
Before it was fired, the board repeatedly failed to comply.
In the face of its intransigence, Kevin Godden, a former superintendent of the Abbotsford School District, was appointed by the minister to work with the board. He reported that its members were unwilling to take feedback from him or the community.
The Human Rights Commission’s assertion that the minister acted without evidence of the need for liaison officers is controverted by the facts.
Police chiefs across the district have repeatedly pointed out the growing presence of gangs on school property.
Likewise, in arguing that the presence of police liaison officers was harmful to Indigenous children, the Commission placed itself at odds with Indigenous leaders in the community.
Specifically, the chiefs of the two First Nations within the board’s jurisdiction, Jerome Thomas of Esquimalt Nation and Chief Ron Sam of Songhees Nation, released a joint statement condemning the program’s cancellation and asking for a review of the board’s composition and governance.
Now it may be that some kids are indeed fearful in the presence of police officers. But the correct response is not to validate that fear by banning liaison staff.
The proper solution is to welcome officers and show that there is nothing to fear.
Staff chosen for the liaison role are picked for their sympathetic and supportive approach. There is no danger of them scaring anyone.
But more than that, schools are responsible, in part, for preparing children for adult life.
Yet law enforcement is an integral part of our society.
How can it be helpful to send kids out into the community, fearful of any contact with a police officer? That can only lead to trouble.
Those nine board members should cease their lawsuit and run instead in the local government elections next October.
That will give voters, rather than the courts, an opportunity to render a decision.
