Public Delegation Board Meeting

Summary

• Delegation policy dispute: Trustee Jennifer Reddy raised concern that three delegates, on topics including the Britannia Hockey Academy, a co-pilot program, and out-of-school care, were not accepted to speak. Chair Victoria Jung explained that delegations must fall within board policy distinguishing governance from operational matters; rejected delegates are directed to contact trustees directly. Trustee Christopher JK Richardson confirmed this is consistent with established practice. No change to policy was made.
• Audio/captioning failure: The live audio and closed captioning were unavailable to the public during the delegation presentation. After a short recess, IT confirmed the full audio and captions were captured in the recording and will be included when posted publicly.
• Delegation – Police in Schools Programs (BC Civil Liberties Association): Policy Director Megan McDermott presented a submission calling for a moratorium on police-in-schools (school liaison officer) programs. She outlined concerns including: unclear accountability when harm occurs, a specific allegation of excessive use of force by a school liaison officer in a Vancouver school, a four-year misconduct case involving a Vancouver police officer whose contact with a former student began in a school setting, and an ongoing provincial police oversight investigation into sexualized workplace conduct at the Vancouver Police Department. She also cited the BC Human Rights Commissioner's repeated calls to end such programs, noting disproportionate harm to Indigenous, Black, racialized, and disabled students. McDermott called on the board to at minimum amend its memorandum of understanding with the VPD to require public transparency about officer placements, complaints, and steering committee meetings. In response to a question, she confirmed no response had yet been received from the Ministers of Education or Public Safety, to whom the submission was also sent.