Candidates speak against book bans at BSD forum

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This article was published 19/10/2023 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A wide field of candidates took to the stage at Brandon University’s Evans Theatre to convince voters they’re the right choice for two open seats on the Brandon School Division’s board of trustees on Wednesday evening.

Weighing in on the question that has plagued the division for months, all seven candidates appearing in person strongly supported the board’s decision earlier this year not to form a committee to review and potentially ban books discussing gender and sexual topics.

The event was hosted by ACC journalism instructors and co-organized by the Brandon Teachers’ Association, CUPE Local 737, Brandon University, Westman Communication Group and the Brandon Sun.

The byelections were triggered by the resignations of former Ward 1 trustee Jason Gobeil and former Ward 2 trustee Caroline Cramer earlier this year.

Present were Ward 1 candidates Breanne Bauche, Kirk Carr, Sheri Miller, Bonnie-Lynn Mills, Brad Rusnak and Scott MacMillan as well as Ward 2 candidate Lorraine McConnell.

Ward 1 candidates Quentin Derhak and Kara Morrice as well as Ward 2 candidate Henry Sieklicki were not present at the forum but sent representatives to read short statements on their behalf.

Speaking for Quentin Derhak, Tyler Glen said Brandon wants to be known for bringing quality education to its students. He committed to collaborating with parents and teachers and raising the bar so that students have the tools they need to succeed in the real world.

Henry Sieklicki’s representative, John Roozendaal, said Sieklicki was running to be a strong voice for Ward 2, which only has a single representative among the 10 trustees. He said Sieklicki would lobby for parental rights, reduced taxation, stable education funding and transparency at the board table.

Mike Theriault said the candidate he’s representing, Kara Morrice, strongly opposed the decision not to form a committee to review and potentially ban books discussing gender and sexual topics.

That opposition, Theriault said, was not base on hatred of 2SLGBTQIA+ people, but a view that the material in question was inappropriate for students.

The first question from panellist Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders was on whether candidates agreed with the division’s policy guaranteeing education for children without discrimination regarding their gender, race, disability or any other factor and how they would defend that policy.

Fellow panellist Peter Buehler, a retired teacher, followed up by asking if the candidate agreed with the decision not to ban books.

Most candidates either decried the efforts to form a book banning committee or the parental rights movement in their responses.

MacMillan said he supports parental rights but does not support putting children in danger or banning books.

A key element of promoting diversity at schools, Carr said, is to have opportunities for division staff and even trustees to learn about the subject during professional development days.

The effort to try to ban books, Miller said, was a thinly-veiled homophobic and transphobic attack against students. She said she was disappointed that the candidates supporting further efforts in that regard were not present to defend their positions.

At the board table, McConnell said, trustees need to keep each other accountable and point out when policies aren’t being followed during the decision-making process. She added that she wants to help the board get back to its business and away from other distractions.

Bauche, who said she has a transgender son, spoke emotionally about how Saskatchewan failed its queer students in introducing legislation that will require schools to notify parents if they change their personal pronouns, names or gender identity.

The final panellist, Sun columnist Deveryn Ross, asked trustees what issue motivated them to run for a position on the school board.

Close to her heart, Mills said, is supporting teachers experiencing burnout, providing resources for students and helping everyone in the division continue to work past the difficult effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miller said she wanted to see what the division could do to help students in need of assessment that will help diagnose whether they have a learning disability.

The day before classes started this September, Rusnak said, his wife asked one of their children’s teachers where he would be sitting. She was told that he would be sitting in the second-to-last row. He said he wanted to improve communication students with disabilities, because his child’s teacher should have known that they have a visual impairment.

Candidates agreed that current class sizes are on the large size, but proposed different potential solutions largely based around being able to hire more teachers or educational assistants.

Mills and McConnell talked about their experiences in early childhood education and how there’s a one staff member to eight children ratio there, but the ratio is much higher in schools.

Infrastructure is a reason Miller has heard for large class sizes at her children’s school, with rooms originally used for music or other specialized lessons being taken over as general purpose classrooms.

Bauche said that if the BSD were to step away from running St. Augustine’s, a Catholic school, the staff hired to work there could be used at other schools.

Cutting ties with St. Augustine’s was also her answer, as well as Rusnak’s, for a question about where the school division should look to cut funding.

Regarding the role of a school trustee, MacMillan said it is to set an example and a standard not just for local education but the whole community. Rusnak said it is to decide how best to provide education using the resources provided to the division by ratepayers.

According to Carr, the trustee’s role is to be a team player, working with other trustees and communicating with members of the community.

On budget cuts, Carr said he would give “a big fat no” to any and said divisions need to work with the provincial government to improve the funding process. MacMillan agreed, saying instead of cuts there should be work done to find funds for more staff and to reduce the division’s reliance on portable classrooms.

Also giving a no to cuts was Mills, but added she wanted to take a deeper look to understand why previous boards made the decisions they made and what was the overall financial situation. On top of assistants and teachers, Mills said she would also look to hire more school psychologists.

McConnell felt similarly about taking a look at division finances, adding that more supports for early-years students is near and dear to her heart.

There was hope expressed by several candidates that the election of a new government in the form of the Manitoba NDP might lead to funding increases for school divisions.

Regular voting for the byelection is on Wednesday, Oct. 25 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Though advance in-person voting has concluded, residents who cannot vote on election day have until Friday to apply for a sealed ballot.

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