The winds of change blew through the Limestone District School board in the wake of Monday’s municipal election. Six new trustees were elected to the nine-person board, and five of those new trustees ran on a promise of bringing more transparency to the board.
The group organized themselves around the concept of putting “trust” back in the word “trustee,” hence why they organized around the hashtag #TRUSTee.
Among the group — the organization refused to call themselves a slate — of candidates was Joy Morning, the trustee-elect for Williamsville and Sydenham. She’s been a teacher for more than 45 years.
“The biggest issue from the 7,000 doors that I counted was the transparency and accountability. The residents felt that they should have been made aware of the issues before the school board ever voted on them,” Morning said.
The group wanted to lift what it called a veil of secrecy when it came to board matters like the censuring of Trustee Tom Mahoney, school closures and the replacement of Trustee David Jackson who died suddenly in April. These decisions were often made by the current board during private sessions, where parents and citizens are not allowed to attend.
According to Bob Godkin, another member of the #TRUSTee group who will now represent Countryside, Pittsburgh and Frontenac Islands for the first time, the group organized to change board policies around these closed-door meetings.
“Private sessions or in-camera sessions should be the exception — not a rule and they’re only under extreme circumstances — you’re protecting someone’s identity or you’re negotiating for a piece of property,” Godkin says.
Despite the group’s majority, three incumbents have kept their seats, Suzanne Ruttan for South Frontenac, Laurie French for Napanee and Karen McGregor in Napanee, with only one incumbent, Wess Garrod losing his seat in Loyalist township to Robin Hutcheon, a #TRUSTee group member.
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Both Garrod and French have defended themselves against the accusation that they’ve been particularly secretive as board members, telling Global News that private sessions are necessary for the functioning of the board.
WATCH: Limestone District School Board trustee addresses complaints about transparency
“Whether they agree with the process is something different than saying that the process is wrong,” French told Global News for a previous story in early September.
In the middle of these two feuding camps is Garrett Elliott, who won in Trillium and Meadowbrook-Strathcona, and is the only new face on the board who did not join the #TRUSTee group during the campaign.
“They did approach me, and I told them I wasn’t interested,” said Elliott. He said he chose to run because he has two children in public elementary schools, and that his wife has been a teacher for 15 years.
“I ran to try and make a positive difference to try to help out. I’ve always been involved in school council.”
WATCH: Limestone District School Board meetings under the microscope
Elliott said that he chose not to sign the #TRSUTee pledge because he didn’t agree with everything the group was saying.
“I didn’t know the group, and I didn’t know their agenda, I didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes. I was just more comfortable being my own candidate and making decisions for myself.”
The members of the group have said their organization would end as soon as they took a seat on the board.
“We didn’t agree that we’re going to agree on all the issues,” said Godkin. “What we agreed to is that we’ll work together to make it more transparent and make it more open. Because we have five out of the nine board seats, I see no reason why that’s not going to happen.”
Elliott argued that early communication from the group championing their own majority has been a bit concerning.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know them individually,” said Elliott. “We all have to get along and work together. They say they are going to work as individuals, and that’s what I hope they do.”
The new board will be in sworn in on Dec. 12.
— With files from Alexandra Mazur.
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