SUDBURY—The Ontario Ombudsman has weighed in on the case of the exclusion of Manitoulin Rainbow District School Board Trustee Larry Killens from in camera meetings of the board with a report indicating that the board did not follow proper procedure in making its decision.
“Our office’s review of your complaint found that the school board has a code of conduct to address trustee conduct issues and that the formal procedure outlined therein was not followed in this case,” reads the report. “The code of conduct ensures procedural fairness is provided. In response to our office’s review, the chair committed to proposing a number of amendments to the code of conduct that would help capture the types of concerns that led to the motion. Our office will monitor the progress of these amendments.”
The report was initiated following a complaint from Trustee Killens that the board voted on April 14, 2015, during a special in camera meeting of the whole of the board of trustees, to remove him from discussions on labour discussions due to concerns about his conduct. In the fall following that action, Mr. Killens complained to the Ombudsman’s office. That office had acquired jurisdiction over school boards on September 1 of that year. Mr. Killens noted in his complaint that the board had not followed the conduct complaint process as set out in the Education Act or the board’s own policies.
Mr. Killens complained that the board of trustees had also failed to ratify the in camera vote in an open meeting of the board of trustees, which is also contrary to both the Education Act and board policy.
The Ombudsman launched a review of the complaint and sent a report to Trustee Killens on June 20, and a letter to RDSB Chair Doreen Dewar. Mr. Killens provided The Expositor with a copy of the report.
The report delved into the reasons for the board chair’s rapid response in bringing the censure upon Trustee Killens. According to the report, Ms. Dewar “brought her concerns to the attention of the board members at the April 14, 2015 meeting. She stated that, in bringing the motion, she was trying to protect the school board.”
Those precipitous actions were not in keeping with proper procedure. “While the chair felt this was a time-sensitive issue, the lack of notice and opportunity for you to respond is inconsistent with procedural safeguards in the act and the school board’s policies around trustee conduct matters,” the Ombudsman’s report told Trustee Killens.
“This isn’t something I am happy about,” said Trustee Killens. “Even though I am the one who brought the complaint. Because of the constant pushback (by the board towards Trustee Killens) our kids are losing out.”
Trustee Killens did admit, however, that the report did bring him some peace of mind. “I was beginning to doubt myself,” he said, “but a third disinterested party has said that my concerns were true.”
“I relate this to a charge in court,” Trustee Killens, a former police officer, said. “Had the judge made a ruling like that, that charge would be thrown out. It would be history. The same should hold true here. The built-in safeguards were bypassed and the procedures outlined were not followed, this motion should die. That’s unfortunate, because I don’t get to be heard.”
Trustee Killens noted that the board chair has indicated that the matter will not be revisited.
“I have been under sanctions from in camera meetings for 14 months by a process that was not done properly,” he said. “It was not properly justified.”
Trustee Killens said that he wants the record to be completely expunged and that the matter should be dealt with in an open meeting.
“The people who voted me in have a right to know,” he said.
Trustee Killens, who attends some meetings from his winter home in Florida, is now concerned that the board intends to ban attending meetings by teleconference. “When we amalgamated the Manitoulin board with the Sudbury board, that was an important consideration,” he said. “I have never missed a meeting in 14 years.”
