#sd61 @pattibacchus.bsky.social @stephenharrison.bsky.social @cbcnews-rss.bsky.social @thetyee.ca

If the termination of the Board in these circumstances is allowed to stand, the consequences are significant for every school district and democratically-elected Board of Education in the Province. This is a power-grab by the Minister, and the former Trustees say it is not one the law permits. /7

At issue in the JR is: whether the gov’t had jurisdiction and authority to dismiss a democratically elected BOE over this issue, and to force a Board to adopt unwanted local policy against its wishes, or whether those are squarely the type of decisions that the legislation asks the Board to make. /6

However, the court is not being asked to determine whether an SPLO Program is warranted, or what form it should take. 5/

The former members of the Board stand behind the appropriateness of their decision that if a School Police Liaison Program is part of Victoria schools, it should be based on empirical evidence of a need for it and subject to some basic oversight by the Board, like any other program in schools. /4

The Minister of Education and Child Care says the Board’s termination had nothing to do with a disagreement over whether to reintroduce a School Police Liaison Program that the Victoria Police walked away from in 2018. The Board contends the record plainly shows that it was. /3

The 9 former members of the Greater Victoria School Board have filed an application to the B.C. Supreme Court to challenge the unprecedented decision by Cabinet on Jan. 30, 2025 to terminate them – the democratically-elected members of a statutory body – over a disagreement about school policy. /2

Statement on behalf of the SD61 Board of Trustees, who have now filed a Judicial Review against the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care 1/

BCTF statement in opposition to the dismissal of the Greater Victoria School Board Teachers across BC were deeply dismayed at the decision last week by Minister of Education and Child Care Lisa Beare to dismiss the board of trustees of the Greater Victoria School District...

The BCTF has issued a statement in opposition to the Minister of Education and Child Care dismissing the GVSD Board of Trustees. #bcpoli #bced
www.bctf.ca/news-and-opp...

Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands Two labor groups had sued the Trump administration after it said that thousands of USAID employees would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday.

BREAKING: Judge Carl Nichols - a Trump appointee - announced he will pause Trump’s effort to gut USAID. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

"The board's decision [re: SLOs] was informed by reports indicating that some students and teachers—particularly those who are Indigenous or people of colour—did not feel safe with officers present. This move was a step toward creating a more inclusive and supportive educational environment."

Wow. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde fearlessly calls out Trump and Vance to their faces. This is heroic.

(posting in 3 parts due to Bluesky's 1 minute limit)

It's Canadian School Counselling Week, time to celebrate the vital role of school counsellors in students’ academic success, social development, and mental health.
The BC NDP campaigned on a promise of ensuring there’s a counsellor in every school—hold them accountable
#bcpoli #bced

The latest in SD61. Both BOE Standing Committee meetings have been cancelled for Feb. There are no scheduled meetings on the district website for 2025-26 budget process. There is no email address on the website to contact the “official trustee.” In sum, no transparency.

Each district has different styles of programs. Not all have PLOs. SD61 was the only district required to have a stand alone safety plan. I think the new Vancouver PLO program with robust accountability, oversight & a complaint process would have been a good model for Victoria.

I am a (former) parent in SD61. What the BOE was asking for is accountability and spelled out rights & responsibilities. But the police depts. refused to consider what seems to me to be reasonable requests.

The minister is given the authority to fire the Board via the School Act but the Act says nothing about police or SPLOs.

BC human rights commissioner Kasari Govender criticizing Education Minister Lisa Bear's firing of the Greater Victoria school board

She notes the firing "effectively makes school police liaison officer programs mandatory" in BC without evidence they are needed or effective #bcpoli

Govender repeatedly asked government to study SLOs. "With no publicly available evidence to either show that SLO programs are effective in preventing harm … [or] are not themselves the cause of harm, it is difficult to see this decision as being a principled one." bchumanrights.ca/wp-content/u...

B.C. human rights commissioner wants study of police in schools after board's firing The commissioner says there are "significant gaps" in evidence supporting school police liaison officers and there is not enough research to say definitively whether police presence in schools keeps y...

B.C. human rights commissioner wants study of police in schools after board's firing
www.timescolonist.com/local-news/b...

VicPD tweeted a letter on the firing of the SD61 board that is 1) From their "union," the openly political arm of VicPD, 2) Includes a lie in the first sentence, and 3) Calls the firing a "successful day" that they attribute in part to police lobbying. Congrats police on your successful coup!

I’ve read the special advisor’s report. He cited failures of governance because: 1) The Board did not ask questions after a meeting 2) The chair gave the super an @unrealistic” deadline to update a document 3) The Board did not “engage” enough with the community. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The Institute for Public Education speaks out on the firing of the #SD61 School Board. instituteforpubliceducation.org/ipe-bc-state... @pattibacchus.bsky.social @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Firing an elected school board for trying to have a say over how police interact with students definitely fits for a party that campaigned on being better friends to the police than the conservatives. Police hurt people every day, and they shouldn't be in schools.

This is an (excellent) idea one would expect from an NDP govt and which actually help kids who need help. How about it @lisabeare.bsky.social? Give kids nurses and counselors, not more cops.

Given how local police operate, the government shouldn't be shocked if SLOs don't come back at all, even after they fired the board. VicPD has said if they were able to hire as many patrol and investigative officers as they wanted, hiring SLOs was their 3rd, 8th, and 20th priority after that.

I would remind Ms Beare that the BCNDP barely got elected last time. If people wanted a pro-police govt, more of them would have voted for Rustad, and now they may as well have.

The latest news in SD61: The District PAC makes it clear to BC Ed Minister that they DON’T want trustees removed from their democratically elected positions. @pattibacchus.bsky.social @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Comment: School board is providing the required oversight Just as police have their own duties and responsibilities, so does the school board, under the School Act.

The latest in the SD61/SPLO impasse: the SD61 BOE’s op-ed in today’s TC: www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comm...
@pattibacchus.bsky.social @stephenharrison.bsky.social