Greater Victoria School Board reinstated following ‘significant error’ by government

The Government of British Columbia is walking back its decision to fire the Greater Victoria School District's board of trustees. The entire board was dismissed

A legal blunder has prompted the government of B.C., to walk back its decision to fire the Greater Victoria School District’s board of trustees.

The province is voiding three ministerial orders it made to remove the entire board last year over a policy to keep police out of schools.

A judicial review of the matter is scheduled to unfold in B.C. Supreme Court this week. On Monday, the province turned the proceeding on its head by quashing the orders that led the fired trustees to seek a review in the first place.

Education Minister Lisa Beare said ministry staff inadvertently failed to provide all of the disclosure for the court case, compromising the fairness of the adjudication.

“We had a significant error — a significant administrative error — that failed to provide the necessary documents under a court order,” Beare told reporters on Monday.

“It’s my job now to make sure that I fully understand the complexities of what happened so that we can address it.”

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association joined the trustees’ case against the province, planning to argue the government abused its power by intervening with a democratically elected board.

One of the association’s lawyers, Ga Grant, said the records that weren’t initially disclosed include texts between ministry officials, the Victoria Police Department, and an independent adviser who helped the board develop a safety plan.

“There is a concern that they were essentially trying to encourage the political interference with the school board in this case,” Grant told CTV News.

She said the court heard some of the messages included derogatory comments about board members.

The Victoria Police Department said it’s aware of the content of the texts.

“While our officers are entitled to hold personal views, the department deems the text exchange unprofessional in nature — and the views do not reflect the position of the Victoria Police Department,” Acting Chief Jamie McRae said in a statement.

“The decision to quash the orders is the result of the ministry having not fully complied with the document production order. The decision is not based on the content of any one text message.”

CTV News is working to obtain the texts. Early Monday afternoon, Beare said she hadn’t seen them.

“This is obviously not the outcome we were working towards,” Beare said. “We have been very clear, since minute one, that safety needs to be the top priority of both myself and the ministry.”

School District 61’s former board voted to end the school police liaison program in 2023. The program was reinstated after the trustees were fired.

Three Victoria Police Department officers currently work in Victoria schools, one of them part-time.

SD61 declined to comment on the board’s reinstatement.

At present, a government-appointed trustee is the only person who sits on the board. New trustees will be selected as part of the general elections in October.