• Page 1: Disclaimer, New Public Participation Policy,  Robert’s Rules,  Trustee Committee Assignments
• Page 2: Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils Constitution summary,
• Page 3: Related Bylaws, Trustee Committee Assignments
• Page 4: Agenda, Items 1-5
• Page 5: Items 6- 11 Finance and Legal – includes Closure of YDC, Policy and Reg changes, Green Report, In Camera Report out, New motions

Links for more info /sources in red.
Home page: Widgets and sticky post: Motions and Vote Records to June 2013
(will be updated to end of June 2014 over the summer).

Next Meetings:
Monday June 16, 7:30 pm: Board Meeting, Tolmie Board Room
Monday September 8, 7pm: Ed Policy and Operations Combined, Tolmie Board Room
Civic elections November 15, 2014

The Record Off The Record is my personal record of and commentary on Board and Standing Committee meetings in School District 61 Greater Victoria (Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Victoria, View Royal,and parts of Saanich and Highlands). Official approved minutes of Board and Standing Committee meetings are posted on the SD61 website under the “Board of Education” menu (Education Policy Development Committee is posted as “Education Meetings”; Operations Policy and Planning Committee is posted as “Operations Meetings”) generally one month after the meeting. Agendas are posted for the public the Friday before the meeting.

Required reports from In Camera meetings are posted on the Board meeting page as “Section 72 Reports”. “Section 72” refers to Section 72 (3) of the BC School Act which states “ A board must prepare a record containing a general statement as to the nature of the matters discussed and the general nature of the decisions reached at a meeting from which persons other than trustees or officers of the board, or both, were excluded, and the record must be open for inspection at all reasonable times by any person, who may make copies and extracts on payment of a fee set by the board.” Key word: “general”.

Any report beyond the basic one required must be done by an in camera motion and majority vote. SD61 Bylaw 9360.1 states: In-camera items that may be discussed confidentially include legal, property, personnel and privacy matters as defined by provincial legislation. [Note, not “are limited to”.] Civic governments are bound by the Community Charter and go into in camera meetings by public motion. School Boards set in camera meetings before public meetings. That’s why the doors are often closed when you arrive.

The public meeting schedule is posted on the District Calendar. Trustees are referred to by last name only for brevity; “the Board of Education of SD No. 61 (Greater Victoria)” is referred to as “the Board”. No audio recordings are made of Standing Committee meetings, only of Board meetings. No record of how the audio recording decision was made, or any debate on proposed uses of and storage of the record appears to exist. Motions may be shortened but retain the essential wording. Seconders not noted.

School District 61 Greater Victoria is the 6th largest employer in the Capital Regional District with a budget of $195.330, 769.00 of your tax dollars for the coming school year. You pay nine Trustees approximately $1,200.00 a month, each, with a raise to come in December when a committee decides how it should be implemented [vote at C.2.b.v May 20/14].

With the Minister of Education as the Honourary President of the British Columbia School Trustees’ Association, just how much real “advocacy” can Trustees do, when their Hon. Pres. seems dedicated to dismantling public education? The Vancouver School Board recently ended their membership and stopped paying their $80,000 annual fee to the BCSTA.

The Report of the SD61 Committee on Public Engagement is posted on the SD61 website.  Check out  the potential restrictions on asking a question at a Board meeting if you’re a member of the public, and the potential restrictions on public recording of public meetings.  It’s taken almost 3 years to get close to having a [highly controlled] question period on the Board agenda.  Recently, Qualicum School District 69 managed to answer 39 questions, with questions and answers provided in the minutes, in one meeting.

The final draft of new Public Engagement policies will come to OPPs September 8^th for debate, discussion and vote – OPPS as a Standing Committee has opportunities for questions from you  during the meeting – and then will go to the Board for a final debate and vote, in a September or  October meeting of the Board. The policy will define how you as a member of the public in SD61 can participate. Expect the policy revisions that stress “control”  to carry.

The current SD61 culture seems fearful of questions, recordings, social media, and “loss of control”