Sketchin'Ville
Below is today's letter from the Clarklandian Education minister to 'Vancouver Parents'.
Please note that, despite what Mr. Bernier had to say to the Lotuslandian proMedia yesterday, there is no mention, in writing, of school closures (or not) in said letter.
Gosh.
I wonder why?
****
Dear Vancouver Parent,
I wanted to let you know about what is happening in School District 39. I have appointed Dianne Turner as official trustee for the Vancouver school district to ensure the Vancouver school district remains focused on providing students with the best education.
Dianne Turner is one of the most respected educators in our province. She’s been a teacher, a vice-principal, and principal in the Vancouver school district. She’s been an education leader in her time as assistant-superintendent and superintendent at the Delta school district. Born and raised in Vancouver – she’s ready to chart a path forward for our schools and our school system.
I know Ms. Turner will be talking with students, parents and staff over the coming days and weeks, and she will work side-by-side with district staff to establish a sustainable, long-term plan to improve student achievement and services.
I’ve asked Ms. Turner to work with her district team and develop a plan that puts Vancouver back on a firm financial footing. I have also asked her to restore a stable and safe workplace, provide continuity by helping senior leaders to return, and develop a plan to further accelerate seismic upgrades and preserve education services for students.
We will work together to put the delays of the past in the past – and move forward to a better future for students in Vancouver.
Sincerely,
Mike Bernier
Minister of Education
.
17 comments:
Anybody else surprised the balanced budget hasn't leaked yet?
Vaughn Palmer appeared on the Simi Sara show this morning and stated that the recently fired trustees let Bernier off the hook re: school closures by taking this action off the table. Wasn't the appointee installed to do what the fired board didn't accomplish?
Dianne Turner was just appointed BC's Chief Educator in August, reporting directly the the Deputy Minister to implement British Columbia’s education transformation to personalized learning.
To follow Bernier's story, he would have had to get hold of her late Saturday and get her to agree to leaving that position for a temporary gig (one year with an option to renew) working in a volatile and politically charged fishbowl.
She made up her mind quickly. Must have been an offer she couldn't refuse.
SH:
For the first time in my long memory, today's BC Almanac (the second half-hour segment), had a taped piece featuring CBC Meteorologist, Joanna Wagstaff's doc about 'The Big One'…I recently heard, somewhere, that the people that oversee BC's "earthquake preparedness', explain that nothing has been done to date, because the problem is "too big"….
So…is the scenario to close the schools at most risk? …keep their future in limbo, saving $$$$$, while they undergo a 'deep' seismic engineering study (more crony contracts), which will not be completed until after the election???
In BC, don't ya know our kids are our top priority?
A very 'Smart' idea. No?
Lew--
Unless, of course, this was in the works for some time...
(which I assume is what you are wondering also....And don't forget, the Mr. Palmer, he of the 'off the hook' comment via Crankypants, told us that the orders were actually drawn up on Friday)
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RossK:
Rushed capers like this always leave loose ends. Sometimes they take a while to appear, but they will.
This weekend thrashing around reminds me of the time the AG (Bond, Shirley Bond...) panicked because the day after she refused to tell John van Dongen on the floor of the Legislature what authority was (purportedly) used to buy off Basi and Virk, she found out van Dongen was going to make an application to the BC Supreme Court for intervenor status in the Auditor General's case against the government the following Tuesday. It was Friday, so in an attempt to get out in front of it the denizens of her ministry had to work overtime on the weekend to get a message to Vaughn Palmer, who dutifully passed in on in the form of a Monday column.
He told his audience that for the first time the ministry was explaining how they did it. Problem was, it wasn't the first time they had tried the explanation on the public because they had put it in writing over a year before. And Mr. Palmer knew it. When I challenged him about it, he said it was the first time they had told HIM in writing. That's not the explanation he left his audience with, and I haven't trusted him on anything since.
To top it all off, the explanation was (and remains) very full of holes and any journalist with the public interest in mind would have been all over it. Neither Mr. Palmer nor his esteemed peers will talk about it to this day.
I really don't know how that bunch sleeps at night.
Thanks very much for that Lew--
It looks like this one is shaping up the same way for the fine Club members in the ledge press gallery.
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Do all these lying A$$holes get infected from Clarke$ di$ea$e? or doe$ $he $lither to the bottom of the $eptic tank through the $hit and $candals to find these $limy rattlebrain$ and $windler$.There getting so $loppy with there Bull $hit there looking real demented out house resident$.Thanks to the $hit house caretaker $cambell and the re$t of the cs,ers.
October 7, 2016
Vancouver School Board trustee Patti Bacchus files privacy complaint over audit
- by Jill Slattery, Online Producer, Global News
Bacchus has filed the complaint over confidential information she says was given to the government’s special adviser Peter Milburn during his current audit of the VSB.
She told Global News her concerns had nothing to do with the allegations of bullying put forward last week by the BC School Superintendents Association.
Related
British Columbia Education Minister Mike Bernier pauses while answering questions during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C. B.C. Education Minister extends Vancouver School Board audit by 2 weeks
The VSB has voted to suspend the public process of closing up to 11 schools Vancouver School Board votes to suspend school closure process
The VSB has voted to suspend the public process of closing up to 11 schools Vancouver School Board trustees slammed with serious bullying and harassment allegations
“Confidential information from the Vancouver School Board, including confidential board minutes, tapes of confidential meetings, and trustee emails has been shared with the special adviser,”
...
The Ministry of Education responded on Friday saying any information seized by the special adviser was done so through a previously agreed-upon process.
...
The province’s audit report, which was initiated after the VSB was the only school board in the province to not turn in a balanced budget, was supposed to be due on Friday. Minister Bernier announced on Thursday he would be extending the deadline by a further two weeks in light of “all the changing situations” with the Vancouver School Board.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2991025/vancouver-school-board-trustee-patti-bacchus-files-privacy-complaint-over-audit/
Leyne: "wildcat management strike"
Bernier: "provide continuity by helping senior leaders to return"
Written on the back of a post it note deleted and shredded
Its all about the land and the money. Really can we trust this cabal of B.C. Lieberals.
Now speaking of land, off topic: turns out CMHC which owns Seymour Mountain jointly with the B.C. government has ordered people to not trespass, i.e. not use the bike trails.
Given I am of the opinion Christy and her cabal simply want to deliver the Vancouver School board lands to her developer buddies, wonder if she will do the same with Seymour mountain, you know, sell it like Burke mountain for far less than it is worth, use the money to buy a few votes, forget about the lack of funding for public schools and declare a balanced budget and money in her prosperity fund. Then her developer buddies will build housing and then force the North Vancouver school district to buy land for schools at inflated prices. Sort of like Burke Mountain and of course Surrey where the city of surrey sold land, they said was surplus while there is a real need for land for schools.
Roll that into the land which is in Champlain Heights in the far south east corner of Vancouver, which is on leases to housing cooperatives, some of which will be up in the next 5 to 15 years. Developers must be slathering at the bit.
Re: 4:08, Oct. 19
Shouldn't that be "Club Members in the Lodge"?
Remember Burke Mountain!
Only completely incompetent politicos sell off valuable land to connected developers in the bargain basement. So that's that then, but not until after the next election.
Reinstate the board , fire Bernie, place a moratorium on any further land sales involving VSB lands or properties until an in depth corruption enquiry is held. In any other jurisdiction in the world, a senior government would step in where the is obviously something very wrong with a a so called
" democratic body" that removes a duly elected "local democratic body", and then manipulates the scenario surrounding it.
This is a travesty, political BS, from the sparkle pony brigade...
One trustee's view of what transpired and her predictions of what is to come:
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/opinion/axed-christy-clark-patti-bacchuss-account-final-hours-vancouvers-school-board
Thanks for posting that Lew... one heck of an informative read.
hot linked to save y'all a klik
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/opinion/axed-christy-clark-patti-bacchuss-account-final-hours-vancouvers-school-board
One by one members of the remaining senior management team emailed trustees to say they were not able to attend the meeting. We required one board employee to serve as Acting Secretary Treasurer for the meeting, and no one would do it.
In fact someone told all staff to clear the building before 5 pm that day, and they did.
Who issued that order?
We couldn’t process any decisions without one employee there.
At one point I turned to Lombardi and said, “it’s like we’ve been fired and everyone knows it but us.”
Lombardi eventually found two employees who agreed to staff a meeting the next night, September 28. We convinced the VSB’s former Superintendent, Dr Steve Cardwell, who now teaches and works at UBC, to come back as Acting Superintendent.
He was kind enough to drop everything and return to help stabilize the VSB. He was quickly joined by recent retired Secretary Treasurer, Rick Krowchuk, and everything was back under control. Or so it seemed. Then a few more Associate Superintendents went on leave.
It felt like a coup. But who was behind it?
It quickly became clear the large hand of the provincial government was involved. We were supposed to have spun into total disarray that week, clearing the way for government to roll in and take over and save us from the chaos.
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