Province moves to stop school boards from disqualifying trustees over their conduct

Janet French · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 12:07 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides tabled authorities connected Tuesday that would portion schoolhouse trustees of the quality to disqualify a workfellow for behaving inappropriately.

"We privation to fortify the rule of antiauthoritarian accountability, and thus, guarantee that a schoolhouse committee cannot conscionable occurrence a trustee connected its ain volition and that that's thing that needs to beryllium done by voters," Nicolaides said astatine a quality conference.

He said citizens tin effort to remove trustees done callback petitions — an enactment immoderate municipal leaders accidental some members of the nationalist person weaponized.

A companion portion of legislation, besides tabled Tuesday, aims to destruct codes of behaviour for Alberta municipal councils and study appointing an autarkic morals commissioner to grip complaints.

But the province is keeping codes of behaviour successful spot for schoolhouse trustees.

Nicolaides said determination person been much situations wherever municipal assembly members misused code of behaviour complaints to punish governmental opponents.

Red Deer Catholic trustee removal prompts change

School boards person been required by provincial instrumentality since 2017 to person codes of conduct. Previously, schoolhouse boards could lone disqualify trustees successful a struggle of involvement oregon who had committed a crime.

In 2019, the United Conservative Party government gave boards the quality to region trustees implicit behaviour violations.

Four years later, the Red Deer Catholic School committee disqualified erstwhile trustee Monique LaGrange aft uncovering her doubly successful usurpation of the board's code.

LaGrange had posted a meme connected societal media with 2 pictures, 1 connected apical of the other: 1 of children holding swastika flags, and the different of children holding Pride flags, with the caption, "Brainwashing is brainwashing."

Her committee colleagues recovered her successful usurpation of the code, pared backmost her duties, and told her to refrain from commenting connected 2SLGBTQ+ issues, apologize and instrumentality sensitivity training.

LaGrange didn't comply. Trustees decided that was different violation, and disqualified her from the board.

She appeared to the courts, which upheld astir of the board's decisions. LaGrange has present appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal, according to her lawyer, James Kitchen.

Education officials said connected Tuesday the projected amendment came successful effect to a petition from radical upset astir LaGrange's firing. Nicolaides said helium besides received galore emails astir it.

Kitchen, LaGrange's lawyer, said successful an interview connected Tuesday he's pleased to spot the state trying to destruct the power.

Whether it's a idiosyncratic oregon governmental conflict, trustees of immoderate governmental bent could wield the powerfulness against colleagues lasting successful the mode of decisions they prefer, helium said.

"That's what quality beings do, right? You springiness them this power, they volition usage it, right? So it shouldn't beryllium there," helium said.

If a trustee's behaviour becomes untenable, schoolhouse boards could always ask a justice to region them, Kitchen said.

"It should beryllium truly hard to region a trustee," Kitchen said. "But it shouldn't beryllium impossible."

LaGrange's lawsuit isn't isolated. Last September, the Peace River schoolhouse division also disqualified a trustee committee members said was behaving inappropriately.

Recall authorities requires 40 per cent of electors successful a ward to motion a petition wrong a 60-day model to region a politician.

NDP acquisition professional Amanda Chapman says astir municipal elections don't adjacent spot elector turnout arsenic precocious arsenic 40 per cent.

In immoderate Catholic and francophone schoolhouse trustee elections, determination are truthful fewer eligible voters that ballot counts are successful the dozens oregon hundreds.

Chapman says she hasn't heard from anyone calling for an extremity to committee disqualification. She said it's disturbing the authorities would marque a provincial alteration based solely on feedback connected the LaGrange case.

Proposed changes to teacher complaints system

Bill 51, the Education Amendment Act,  also proposes to alteration ineligible references astir backstage schools to "independent schools," arsenic requested by an association representing the schools.

If passed, the bill would besides let displaced Jasper residents waiting for homes successful the fire-ravaged assemblage to tally and ballot successful Jasper schoolhouse committee elections until Dec. 31, 2026. A akin municipal affairs measure besides tabled Tuesday would alteration the aforesaid rights successful assembly elections.

Bill 51 would besides tweak the government-run teacher disciplinary process by adding a $250 interest for a complainant to entreaty the Alberta teaching assemblage commissioner's (ATPC) decisions to disregard complaints she finds to beryllium without merit. Complainants are appealing astir a 3rd of decisions, according to government.

"We request the teacher subject process to beryllium capable to truly run effectively," Nicolaides said. "And an important portion of that is speed."

A CBC probe into the ATPC recovered that since it took complaint of accepting and investigating teacher complaints in 2023, erstwhile employees, complainants and teachers said cases stalled successful a chaotic, inefficient system. As of Tuesday, nary nationalist hearings had been scheduled for cases initiated nether the caller ailment system.

Bill 51 would besides destruct the request for schoolhouse authorities to study alleged wrongdoing to 2 antithetic parts of the acquisition ministry. And it would empower the authorities to archer a teacher's caller leader if the nonrecreational is the taxable of an progressive complaint.

The Alberta Teachers' Association, which represents teachers facing disciplinary matters, has extended concerns astir the commission.

In a statement, an relation spokesperson said the projected amendments whitethorn code immoderate issues with the process, "but bash not code different concerns, specified arsenic timelines to implicit investigations and behaviour hearings."