WESTLOCK — In an effort to curb bad behaviour by protesters or disruptive members of the public, Pembina Hills trustees have updated their policies concerning attendance at board meetings and delegations.
During their Feb. 21 meeting, trustees passed two motions approving amendments recommended by the policy committee.
Trustee Sherry Allen, who sits on the policy committee, said they wanted to make sure there was clarification about conduct and expectations by public attendees at school board meetings.
Allen said these changes were being considered due to incidents at other board meetings, though she didn’t cite specific examples.
In January, the school board in Vernon, B.C., was forced to ban the public from future meetings following protests by individuals opposed to sexual orientation and gender identification resources in schools.
Last August in Winnipeg, the Louis Riel School Division banned protesters from future school board meetings following a major disruption relating to a trustee who had been suspended after making transphobic comments on social media.
The new policy now states, “All persons attending the board meeting shall conduct themselves with respectful decorum and in accordance with the applicable code of conduct.” (Links to various codes are provided.)
"The board chair has the authority to halt or adjourn the meeting or eject any person from the meeting at any time," the policy reads.
Initially, it stated that the board chair could only halt the meeting, but trustee David Truckey suggested they added the phrase “or adjourn” as "halt” could be interpreted as simply taking a break.
“Halt means to stop it now and ask everyone to leave,” said board chair Judy Lefebvre. "And then if we still had a lot of business to do, we could continue on.”
The policy previously stated that individuals wanting to present to the board as a delegation must make a request in writing at least seven days prior to the next regular board meeting, and delegations shall be placed on the agenda at the discretion of the chair and vice chair of the board.
However, it was amended to state that explanations for the decision of the chair and vice chair will now be provided to the delegation and delegations will receive a copy of the policy.
