Quesnel School District Board of Education has elected Tony Goulet as chairperson for the following year.
Goulet was nominated at a regular meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 17, and won an online vote against trustee David Chapman.
“I think that consistency would be really good for us as we move forward with new things that are happening and especially with our strategic plan and how we move that, and working with our Indigenous community members and our Indigenous relationships and building those up,” Goulet said before he was elected.
Chapman was acclaimed as vice-chair.
Before adopting the Nov. 17 agenda, trustee Cyril Tobin questioned why the board would not publicly decide on mandating COVID-19 vaccines for teachers and staff.
The item was scheduled for in-camera.
“Obviously if we go to in-camera, then we won’t come to a vote until next month,” Tobin said.
Read More: B.C.’s largest school district decides against mandating COVID-19 vaccines for staff
Director of instruction-human resources, Perry Lofstrom said they would only be providing some information that is incomplete at this time.
While Tobin noted other organizations that have already implemented vaccine mandates for staff, Lofstrom said he could only do as directed.
Goulet said they were waiting for more time and still collecting information from surveys and reviewing documents.
“There is also, to my understanding, no need to make a decision right at any given time, so we have some time to work through this,” he said.
“It has also been advised that these discussions occur within an in-camera sitting because they are dealing with staff, so we have to keep that in the back of our minds that this is staff and HR issues we are dealing with.”
Tobin said although he was not satisfied with Goulet’s response, he appreciated that Goulet set the agenda and decided on a course of action.
“I struggle with the value of a local school board when we have to walk lockstep with BC School Trustees Association and BC Public School Employers’ Association to be honest,” Tobin added.
“I’ve lost my loving feeling for having local representation when we don’t really do anything to represent unless it’s approved.”
The topic of mandatory vaccination is anticipated to be on the agenda at the next regular board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 15.
Read More: School District 28 announces more leadership appointments in Quesnel area
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