Board Meeting: December 19, 2023
The Board Meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on December 19, 2023. Staff brought forward three reports with five recommendations for discussion.
As part of matters for action, I presented the report from the Committee of the Whole dated December 5, 2023. There was one matter for action arising from the minutes of the Committee of the Whole:
THAT staff develop an analysis of needs in the following areas as part of the 2024-2025 budget process: Transportation; Special Education; Mental Health and Well-being; cost pressures related to facilities, renovations, and new builds; Employee Replacement Costs; and Cybersecurity.
I voted in favour of this recommendation. It was added to the consent agenda items. The recommendation was carried.
I presented the report from the Ad Hoc Policy Committee dated December 7, 2023. There was one matter for action arising from the minutes of the Ad Hoc Policy Committee:
THAT the proposed amalgamated policy P.035.SCO Extended Day and Childcare Programs, attached as Appendix A to Report 23.078, be approved; and
THAT the standing policy P.059.SCO Childcare Programs in Schools, attached as Appendix B to Report 23-078 be rescinded.
I voted in favour of this recommendation. It was added to the consent agenda items. The recommendation was carried.
During the discussion on the Investigative Report on the Code of Conduct, I moved the following recommendation made by the third-party integrity commissioner (timestamp: 54:37):
Upon review of the facts as documented in the investigator’s final report presented to the Board on December 15, 2023 regarding Code of Conduct complaints in relation to Trustee Kaplan-Myrth, the Board finds:
THAT Trustee Kaplan-Myrth has breached Sections 3.5, 3.7, 3.8, 3.15, 3.17 and 3.18 of Policy P.073, Board Member Code of Conduct.
While introducing the recommendation, I shared the following thoughts (timestamp: 55:38):
I am disappointed that we are back at another Code of Conduct investigation. Each Trustee around this table approved and signed this new Code of Conduct seven months ago in May.
I want to thank the Integrity Commissioner for her extensive investigation. I think having an independent third party do the investigation is a better overall process for everyone involved.
I am very disappointed in the conclusion. I feel that there are inconsistencies with the standards that Trustees are held to. I also think the level of respect that I want for this board and the requirements to follow the code of conduct is higher than what this report concludes.
I called on my colleagues once before and myself and I am going to do it again. We all need to do some self-reflection on how we are again here and how we can commit to doing better for the board, our staff, and our community. This investigation and this report are not a win for anyone sitting at this table.
Most importantly, to our community, I am truly sorry we are here once again. I do encourage everyone listening and, in our community, reads this report.
We are here tonight to vote on the breach that was determined through the process that each Trustee in this room approved and signed off on. This report determined that Trustee Kaplan Myrth breached the Code of Conduct. That is what we are here to discuss tonight.
I want to conclude by reading the definition of respect that our Code of Conduct outlines. Respect means honouring oneself and others through words and actions, supporting diversity of beliefs, and treating the world and everything in it with dignity.
I will be holding myself to this level of respect. I am pleading with each colleague around this table to do the same. We collectively can do better.
I voted in favour of the recommendation. The recommendation passed. Following this recommendation, the third-party Integrity Commissioner recommended sanctions and in line with the Education Act, I moved a recommendation for the following sanctions (timestamp: 1:04:45):
THAT, in accordance with Sections 4.41(b) of Policy P.073.GOV, Trustee Kaplan-Myrth be barred from attending the next regular Board meeting on January 30, 2023; and
THAT, in accordance with Section 4.41(c) of Policy P.073.GOV, Trustee Kaplan-Myrth be barred from sitting on the following committees of the Board for a 6-month period beginning January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 inclusive:
Committee of the Whole
Committee of the Whole Budget
Ad Hoc Policy Review Committee
Advocacy Strategy Committee
Advisory Committee on Equity
During the discussion the following amendment was moved:
THAT, in accordance with Sections 4.41(b) of Policy P.073.GOV, Trustee Kaplan-Myrth be barred from attending the next regular Board meeting on January 30, 2023; and
THAT, in accordance with Section 4.41(c) of Policy P.073.GOV, Trustee Kaplan-Myrth be barred from sitting on the following committees of the Board for a 6-month period 3-month period beginning January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 March 30, 2024 inclusive:
Committee of the Whole
Committee of the Whole Budget
Ad Hoc Policy Review Committee
Advocacy Strategy Committee
Advisory Committee on Equity
I voted in favour of the amendment. The amendment was carried. I voted in favour of the amendment recommendation. The recommendation passed.
During the discussion on the Investigative Report on the Code of Conduct, additional recommendations were brought forward.
The first set of recommendations were:
Upon review of the facts as documented in the investigator’s final report presented to the Board on December 15, 2023 regarding Code of Conduct complaints in relation to Trustee Blackburn, the Board finds:
THAT Trustee Blackburn has breached sections 3.7, 3.15, and 3.18 of Policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct, for misleading staff in such a way as to impede their ability to fulfill the duties of their job.
(recommendation one)THAT Trustee Blackburn has breached sections 3.29 and 3.30 of policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct, for giving media interviews in contravention of section 3.1 of Policy P.136.COM.
(recommendation two)
During the discussion on the first set of recommendations, I shared the following thoughts (timestamp: 1:44:56):
As I previously stated, I am disappointed in this report, although I want to thank the Integrity Commissioner for her extensive investigation. I really believe that the level of respect I want for the board and the requirements to follow the code of conduct is higher than what the report concludes, and I am really going to implore that if we all want to do better, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. I will be this breach of the code of conduct this evening because of that.
During the discussion on the first set of recommendations, one friendly amendment was proposed and accepted:
Upon review of the facts as documented in the investigator’s final report presented to the Board on December 15, 2023 regarding Code of Conduct complaints in relation to Trustee Blackburn, the Board finds:
THAT Trustee Blackburn has breached sections 3.7, 3.15, and 3.18 of Policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct, for misleading staff in such a way as to impede their ability to fulfill the duties of their job. (recommendation one)
THAT Trustee Blackburn has breached sections 3.29 and 3.30 of policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct, for giving media interviews in contravention of section 3.1 of Policy P.136.COM.
(recommendation two)
Each bullet point was voted on separately. I voted in favour of recommendation one and I did not vote in favour of recommendation two. Building on my statement, the first recommendation points to an incident where staff’s ability to fulfill the duties of their job was directly impeded which clearly contravenes sections 3.7, 3.15, and 3.18 of the Policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct. The second recommendation points to a contravention of sections 3.29 and 3.30 of the Policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct. In my opinion during the media interviews given, the trustee in question did state that they were not speaking on behalf of the Board therefore they were not in breach of the Code of Conduct. The first set of recommendations were not carried.
The second set of recommendations were:
Upon review of the facts as documented in the investigator’s final report presented to the Board on 15 December 2023 regarding Code of Conduct complaints in relation to Trustee Dickson, the Board finds:
THAT Trustee Dickson has breached section 3.29 and 3.30 of policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct, for giving media interviews in contravention of section 3.1 of Policy P.136.COM.
I did not vote in favour of the recommendation. The recommendation points to a contravention of sections 3.29 and 3.30 of the Policy P.073.GOV, Board Member Code of Conduct. In my opinion during the media interviews given, the trustee in question did state that they were not speaking on behalf of the Board therefore they were not in breach of the Code of Conduct. The recommendations were not carried.
Please note, that the opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect an official position of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board of Trustees.The recording can be found here if you would like to watch the entire meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using my contact form here.
Key links
Video for the Board Meeting on December 19, 2023
Agenda for the Board Meeting on December 19, 2023
Notice of Motion, Needs-Based Budget
Report No. 23-078, Approval of Amalgamation of Policy P.035.SCO Extended Day Programs and Policy P.059.SCO Childcare Programs in Schools.
