VICTORIA — Members of the North Okanagan-Shuswap school board have been fired by the British Columbia government over financial troubles and a loss of public confidence.
Education Minister Mike Bernier said Wednesday that the government took the unusual step of dismissing nine trustees so the public could have faith in the administration of education in the community.
Firing an entire board is an unusual step, which has been taken eight times since 1965, he said.
The board's duties will be taken over by a single official trustee, former Surrey school district Supt. Mike McKay.
Bernier said McKay will assume all the duties typically required of a board of education for one year, including conducting public meetings and community consultations.
"The official trustee's first priority is meeting with school district senior staff to plan next steps," he said.
The dismissal came with the release of a special advisory report saying the board transferred $10 million from its operating surplus funds to pay for projects such as the construction of a new school district office.
The report noted that three of the nine trustees had already handed in their notices of resignation and that board meetings had degenerated to the point where there was little decorum and business was hampered.
The board lacked the skills for operational oversight, there was no financial expertise, trust among trustees was lacking, as was the perceived transparency, the report said.
Special adviser Elizabeth Watson recommended that the board be dismissed because of an intense lack of trust among trustees.
She said that tension increased when the board cut its operational budget to pay for the new office, then cited budget pressures.
"Cost overruns on the building have escalated the sense of outrage in the community," Watson said in the report.
A news release from the Education Ministry said Watson was appointed in April at the request of the board to evaluate its governance practice as well as its approach to financial matters and fiscal management.
"Our review highlighted that this board is not functioning well, and the situation would appear to be deteriorating rapidly," Watson said in the report.
She called for a ministry-appointed trustee to hold office until the next regularly scheduled election of school board trustees from seven electoral areas from Salmon Arm to the North Shuswap in the fall of 2018.
"Several of the trustees have been re-elected numerous times and have served for over 20 years," Watson said. "We have been unable to locate terms of reference for the board or individuals."
Watson said interviews with a range of people — including trustees, senior management, parents and teachers — revealed the board was akin to "a zoo" in its level of dysfunction and that trustees disrespected each other and management.
"Consistent feedback also identified that board functioning is going from bad to worse with no expectation that this will change in the foreseeable future."
Among her recommendations, Watson called for the number of trustees to be reduced to five or seven from nine and for the development of a strategic plan to deal with the balance between rural and urban schools.
