‘Issues’ delay ruling on BSD trustee’s conduct

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This article was published 15/06/2023 (923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Concerns regarding the conduct of a Brandon School Division trustee were left unresolved this week after trustees were unable to make a decision on the matter during an in-camera session of Monday evening’s board meeting.

“There were some issues,” board chair Linda Ross told the Sun. “There were some questions that we needed answered before we could proceed.”

Ross said she was unable to go into detail regarding what in particular prevented the discussion from moving forward, as it was a personnel issue.

The school board trustees were to address comments made by rookie trustee Breanna Sieklicki at two recent board meetings in relation to a presentation by former trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt, who appeared as a delegation before the board on May 8.

Hackenschmidt had advocated for the creation of a committee that would review books discussing gender identity and sexual health issues and potentially remove them from school shelves. She linked the discussion of books with transgender themes to the sexual grooming of youth and pedophilia.

Following the presentation, Sieklicki applauded Hackenschmidt for her “courage” and encouraged people in the audience to support her at the board’s next meeting on May 23, when the board would discuss the proposal.

During the May 23 meeting, which took place at the Vincent Massey High School gymnasium, Sieklicki tabled a motion to establish the committee proposed by Hackenschmidt, and attempted to explain why the motion should be supported. The motion ultimately failed as it was not supported by any other trustee in attendance.

Correspondence received by the board following the May 8 presentation called for trustees to uphold Brandon School Division policies and the Board Member Code of Conduct, which specifies that trustees will “abide by the provisions of all federal, provincial and local legislation, including but not limited to human rights statues.”

The code also states that trustees must “Treat Board colleagues, divisional and school staff, students and community members in a respectful and courteous manner, and refrain from using abusive or denigrating language in any dealings with them.”

During the open board portion of the meeting, trustee Duncan Ross expressed the opinion that he would “rather deal with this before summertime,” instead of having the question over trustee conduct be drawn out over several weeks.

Linda Ross agreed during her conversation with the Sun, saying she wanted it resolved “by the end of the June 26 meeting.”

It was also decided that senior administration, including Supt. Mathew Gustafson, would not be present during the in-camera discussion over the trustee conduct issue, but would remain available should further questions arise.

The board’s decision is to be made in an open meeting, following the in-camera discussion.

The next meeting of the BSD board of trustees will take place on June 26 at the J.L. Milne boardroom in the division’s administration office on Sixth Street.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com

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