Chairman Bob Borden says the Upper Grand District School Board will have a closed door meeting sometime this month to discuss the actions of trustee Kathryn Cooper during the boundary review for Edward Johnson Public School in Guelph.
“It’s an error of judgment on behalf of a politically young trustee who didn’t think the whole process through,” Borden said in an interview on Jan. 27.
Many parents have questioned the impartiality of the board throughout the process – and particularly that of Cooper, who represents Erin and Guelph-Eramosa.
The board approved the controversial boundary change last week – effectively forcing Guelph-Eramosa French immersion students east of Jones Baseline to transfer from the Guelph school to Brisbane Public School in Erin – but not without protest from over a dozen parents.
“[The review] process has to be completely fair, open and transparent,” parent Julie McCann told trustees during the Jan. 24 meeting.
McCann said parents were concerned about “a perceived bias,” given that Cooper requested, and later received, $600 from Erin council to create promotional materials the trustee said, “will espouse the virtues of Erin’s French immersion programs.”
Cooper even offered to pay half the funds herself, noting in her letter to the town that schools and the board are not allowed to fund such projects.
Cooper, acting as part of a small group of parents from Erin, made a written request for funds to Erin council on Nov. 30, more than two weeks before the initial public meeting for the boundary review, where Guelph-Eramosa parents first learned their children could be moved to Brisbane.
Borden said Cooper’s actions did not violate any bylaw, code of conduct or board or ministry rules.
“She just came pretty close, that’s all,” Borden told the Advertiser.
Cooper agreed she did not officially break any rules and she called the board’s proposed closed-door meeting an important part of upholding the code of conduct for trustees. She also regrets her actions.
“Oh yes, it was stupid on my part,” she said on Monday. “The error I made in judgment was bringing that to [Erin] council; it should have been a parent.”
That error has caused some Guelph-Eramosa parents to accuse Cooper of being more interested in promoting the French immersion program at Brisbane Public than listening to their concerns.
“It showed she had an idea in mind from the outset,” said parent Marcus Mielke, who was visibly frustrated after the board approved the boundary change.
“I think it was in bad taste and bad judgment … she was not impartial at all.”
Several parents also wondered about a possible conflict of interest, alleging Cooper was acting primarily to ensure the vitality of the under-capacity French immersion program at Brisbane, which is attended by one of her own children.
In her letter to the town, Cooper wrote, “In the face of declining enrolment and slow or no growth in the area, the future viability of our school could be a concern.”
She added transferred Guelph-Eramosa students would “enhance [Erin’s] viability by bringing strength to Erin’s French immersion program and enabling us to build a strong ‘magnet’ for the region.”
Borden said he encourages all trustees to view possible conflicts in a broader sense, explaining, “There can be a perceived conflict of interest.”
However, he said Cooper declared to the board at the outset that she had a child in the Erin system. Borden stressed Cooper did not have to declare a conflict of interest – and thus abstain from voting – because she will not gain financially from the boundary change.
Cooper said she understands how her actions could be perceived as biased, but she stressed they did not constitute a conflict of interest – and she never considered declaring a conflict.
“It’s not one of those things where you can’t make everyone happy, that’s for sure,” she said of the situation.
“I feel very bad that I made this error and I feel very bad that parents in east Wellington are not happy.”
Cooper stressed she hopes the board can get a French immersion program up and running in the Rockwood area as soon as possible, which she said would likely receive strong support from local parents.
