Robert McDowell: What’s all this about bullying at the VSB?

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      The five NPA school board trustee candidates have been very vocal about ending bullying throughout the school system, including at the school board table and offices. We recently signed a pledge publicly affirming our stance to stamp out bullying on the school board so that parents and students can hold us accountable for our future conduct as trustees.

      Many have asked why have we put this issue at the forefront of our campaign. The unfortunate answer is because two separate, independent reports found that bullying and harassment did happen during the tenure of the previous board. This bullying was too often directed at senior staff, and several subsequently took leaves or quit. Some of those positions have still not been filled.

      The NPA believes that the public deserves to know who was responsible for the bullying and harassment and that all candidates should take accountability for past actions so a new board can focus on responsible and ethical governance moving forward.  All former NPA and Green trustees have unredacted their names from the independent reports and taken accountability for their actions. However, Vision Vancouver former trustees and candidates have refused to allow their names to be unredacted in the reports.  

      Students and parents deserve better. In the Goldner report alone, Vision Vancouver trustees were cited 27 times. NPA trustees were cited twice and in both cases it was unrelated to their conduct toward staff. It begs the question, what is Vision Vancouver hiding from students and parents?

      This is a very serious issue and must be carefully considered. Sadly, our opponents prefer that we ignore the conclusive findings of harassment and bullying within the Goldner and WorkSafe B.C. reports. In fact, Vision Vancouver has characterized our initiative to end bullying as “silly”. What kind of message does that send our youth?

      Following the by-election on October 14, the successful candidates for the Vancouver school board must move ahead with much needed new schools for our growing neighbourhoods, crucial seismic upgrades for our entire school network, new programing options for Vancouver’s students, and other important priorities. However, should Vision Vancouver trustees continue to deny or acknowledge their role in bullying and return to the Vancouver school board, Vancouverites can rightly assume bullying will continue to occur and our children along with the staff at the school board will be the worse for it.

      On October 14, please consider the five NPA school board nominees who have pledged not to bully and harass staff. We are adamant that our school system must be bully-free. We stand by that. You have it in writing. 

      Robert McDowell is a former Canadian government diplomat and is running as an NPA candidate for the Vancouver school board.

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