B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Metzger should be applauded for his decision last week to reinstate Catherine Alpha to the Greater Victoria school board. He used common sense, rather than hasty politics, to reach his ruling. Alpha made an honest error and didn’t deserve to be penalized for it.

Alpha was dismissed from her seat on the board in April for filing incomplete campaign disclosure statements. She did not use the proper form to declare $350 in campaign expenses. However, the school district didn’t inform her about the mistake until five days after the late-filling deadline, leaving her no opportunity to correct it. Administrators also sought legal advice prior to notifying Alpha about the situation.

Did someone at the district office screw up or was this some kind of political coup?

Alpha, who ousted two-term trustee Mark Walsh last November, represents the Victoria Public Education Coalition, which has been criticized for its affiliation with the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association. Alpha openly espouses ideals that aren’t necessarily supported by the majority of board members. In March, Alpha asked trustees to stand up against provincial underfunding by submitting only a needs-based budget this year. She didn’t garner enough support and a month later Alpha was disqualified from office.

Even though she’s been reinstated, there’s one question that remains. Why did the board proceed so quickly with byelection preparations when they knew Alpha was appealing her disqualification? There’s no question the board was bound by provincial legislation that dictates the steps they are required to follow within a certain amount of time. But why didn’t trustees wait until the last possible date to vote on these matters? They appointed a Chief Elections Officer 11 days before they needed to, which trigged the 80-day timeframe required to hold a byelection. Or better yet, why didn’t the board send a letter to the Minister of Education explaining the situation and showing support for their colleague? After all, everyone makes mistakes. Why should one trustee take the fall for an honest error?

The district hasn’t determined how much money has been spent to date on the June 27 byelection. With general voting day cancelled, the cost isn’t expected to reach the projected $44,000. However, the money spent on advertising will come out of the current school year budget. This means less money spent on students as a result of this fiasco.

The four candidates who were vying for Alpha’s seat on the board are also losing out. They spent weeks preparing for this byelection and had the rug pulled out from under their feet at the last minute. Hopefully, their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. The issues raised during the short campaign should not be forgotten. It’s important that the public continues to question what goes on at all levels of government, including the school board table. It’s part of a healthy democratic process.

It’s unfortunate that Alpha had to jump through hoops to keep the job to which she was fairly elected. However, one good thing came out of this situation. The district was thrust into the spotlight and people around the region, and across the province, started talking about the situation in Greater Victoria and school board politics in general.

Trustees play a critically important role in every community. They may be bound by provincial mandates, but they hold the decision-making power to close schools and choose what programs to fund or underfund. It’s time for people to start paying attention to what goes on at the board table and hold our children’s representatives accountable. The district needs to be reminded that there’s no room for political games in education.

Kerrie-Ann Schoenit is a reporter for the Saanich News.

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