The nine former Greater Victoria School District trustees who were removed from their positions in January have filed an application for judicial review with the Supreme Court, asking for their reinstatement as the board of education for SD61.
On Jan. 30, Minister of Education and Child Care Lisa Beare removed the trustees, mainly as a result of disagreements around whether or not school police liaison officers (SPLO) should be in schools, a program that was cancelled by SD61 in 2023 due to concerns that students of marginalized communities felt unsafe with officers in schools.
Beare said at the time the board had "multiple opportunities to meet the needs of the community" and they had not delivered.
In their petition to the court, the trustees' lawyers said the minister thought an SPLO program should be put in place, though she avoided speaking directly about her views, "presumably over jurisdictional concerns."
"When her actions and communications are viewed in sequence, it is plain that they were driven throughout by an objective of forcing the board to implement an SPLO program but without the decision to do so being attributable to the minister," noted the petition.
The board had said in the past they were open to having a type of SPLO program, but only if the need for one was supported by empirical evidence of its benefits, and if the program was structured in a way that allowed the board to have oversight over the program.
Before their removal, the board was ordered by the ministry to produce a safety plan, which they did, however, it did not include an SPLO program. The minister has ordered the plan be revised and appointed an advisor to help develop the plan who would only recommend a plan with an SPLO program, according to the petition.
"The special advisor refused to continue working with the board when asked to prepare a draft of an alternative version of the revised safety plan without an SPLO program," noted the petition. "Based on a myriad of vague allegations which were never put to the board for response, the Minister obtained the support of cabinet to terminate the Board with an order in Council, and to install an official trustee."
The province-appointed trustee 香蕉视频直播� former Camosun College president Sherri Bell 香蕉视频直播� has "unsurprisingly" committed to implementing an SPLO program in Victoria schools by the end of the school year, according to the petition.
"The board says that the Minister was acting throughout with a collateral and improper purpose of forcing the board to implement an SPLO program without being seen to do so," noted the petition. "The Board says she did not have the jurisdiction to impose an SPLO Program directly, nor indirectly through a procedurally unfair process concluded by the Board香蕉视频直播檚 termination. Cabinet香蕉视频直播檚 order was founded on these jurisdictional deficiencies and improper purpose and is unlawful as a result."
The petitioners said the termination of the board was made on grounds that were without notice to the board, and without providing the board an opportunity to respond. They also noted the safety plan order, the special advisor order, and the termination order were issued in bad faith and for an improper purpose.
In an emailed statement on behalf of the former trustees, they said the point of the judicial review is not about whether or not SPLOs should be in schools, it's about whether the government had the jurisdiction and authority to dismiss a democratically elected board over the issue, and to force a school board to adopt "unwanted local policy" against its wishes.
"If the termination of the Board in these circumstances is allowed to stand, the consequences are significant for every school district and democratically-elected board of education in the province. This is a power-grab by the minister, and the former trustees say it is not one the law permits," noted the statement.
On Monday, March 31, Bell passed a motion approving the newest safety plan, which includes a "regular presence" of police in schools. The plan will be reviewed by the minister before being adopted by Bell.
