A Winnipeg School Division trustee has been suspended from her post for six weeks after comments she made about teachers, she said in a social media post.
Trustee Jennifer Chen said she was censured “due to my tweeting about teachers.”
Winnipeg School Division confirmed the suspension Thursday evening.
“At a Special Meeting of the Board held May 20, 2021, the Board of Trustees of the Winnipeg School Division adopted a motion to suspend Trustee Yijie (Jennifer) Chen for breaching the Winnipeg School Division Trustee Code of Conduct, as outlined in Procedural By-law 1263, for a second time in less than a week, while also defying the Board of Trustees by resisting to act in good faith and failing to respect the Code of Conduct and the Board’s established due process.”
While the details weren’t published, board chair Betty Edel told the media that the censure was due to Chen disclosing confidential information on Twitter.
Chen’s tweets on the subject appear to have been deleted.
The motion means Chen can’t attend a school board meeting, receive materials about in-camera board meetings and has all privileges, rights, and duties suspended until June 30.
This isn’t the first time the WSD has suspended trustees for violating its code of conduct.
In May 2020, the board suspended Ward 5 trustee Cindy Murdoch, but wouldn’t say what behaviour prompted the suspension.
At the time, Murdoch told media she was battling mental health issues and at one point, she was reported missing by Winnipeg police.
— with files from Shane Gibson
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