SD61 board reinstated after province’s court document error

The province’s lawyers conceded BC’s case against the fired Victoria School Board trustees after finding the Ministry of Education “failed to fully provide all necessary documents,” including text messages between senior government officials.

“The decision by the province today is the responsible step after acknowledging these significant errors,” Education Minister Lisa Beare said in a statement yesterday.

“These errors came to light in the last few days. The court will decide what happens next in the coming week at the scheduled hearing, and we will respect that process.”

Text messages between senior officials at the Ministry of Education and VicPD, and the special adviser appointed to the SD61 board—which were not previously disclosed—were discovered by the province's lawyers on Saturday, compromising the fairness of the case.

The ministry’s government orders to remove the trustees from their positions have been rescinded, with the board reinstated.

“Today’s result represents complete vindication for the Greater Victoria School Board,” said Nicole Duncan, SD61 board chair, on Monday.

“The government never had a lawful basis to fire us.”

‍ Firings linked to disagreements over police in schools

The trustees were fired from their positions last January after disagreements between the board and ministry regarding the School Police Liaison Officer (SPLO) program.

The board ended the program in 2023, citing concerns from the SD61 community, a lack of oversight of the officers’ activities in schools, and calls from BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender to pause programs until they could be proven to be effective. Govender has continued to push for more research on the programs in light of the board’s firing.

In the fall of 2024, the ministry ordered the school board to work with police to develop a safety plan for Victoria schools, urging the board to bring back SPLOs.

The board said it complied and submitted options for a new school safety plan, which included one developed with a ministry-appointed special adviser. These safety plans did not include a return to SPLOs, but involved police in other capacities.

“We were never opposed to having police in schools in any number of different functions,” said Duncan. “But based on the evidence that had been provided to us, we did not feel a Police Liaison Program was appropriate. Reasonable people can disagree about these matters.”

The trustees were fired months later, with the province arguing the board had failed to collaborate with police and the government adviser.

The board disagreed with the decision and launched a court challenge last April.

In October, the province was ordered to turn over documents related to its decision, which it did in March.

On Monday, Beare said she had “recently been advised” by her staff that the ministry “inadvertently failed” to fully provide all documents, “compromising the fair and timely adjudication of this case.”

‘The ministry has not told the truth about what its true objectives were’

Duncan doesn’t buy that the mistake was “inadvertently” made, saying the ministry hasn’t been transparent about its “true objectives” for the safety plan.

“The ministry has not told the truth about what communications it was having with the police and the special advisor,” said Duncan.

She called the lead-up to the board’s firing “a setup.”

“The ministry put us through a convoluted and dishonest process of crafting safety plans with a special advisor’s assistance and forcing us to create a plan of which the police approved,” said Duncan.

“What was done to us was hurtful, embarrassing, damaging, and totally unacceptable. We were elected by our community, worked well together as a board, and made our decisions in good faith.”

Beare said the error resulted in the trustees being reinstated, which was “not the outcome [the ministry was] working toward.”

The trustees will remain in their positions until the Oct. 17 municipal election.