Threat of supervision floated by Greater Essex County District School Board chair

The Greater Essex County District School Board administration office is seen on May 6, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

After being re-selected Tuesday as board chair, Gale Hatfield remarked on the future of Windsor-Essex’s largest school board.

“I fear that in the near future, this Board of Trustees may find itself under supervision or quite possibly nonexistent,” Hatfield said.

Hatfield has been the board chair for the last three years.

Work she describes as “not easy” and at times “demanding and difficult.”

“As proud as I am of our school board and the great accomplishments of our students and staff, this boardroom presents a challenging work environment,” Hatfield said.

The first meeting of the night was to organize the board, with elections for key roles and committees.

Hatfield was re-elected as chair while trustee Christie Nelson was selected as vice-chair, replacing Connie Buckler.

Hatfield made her remarks at the conclusion of that meeting and before the trustees were set to accept the resignation of trustee Nancy Armstrong.

In a letter to the board dated Nov. 4, and only publicly released as part of the agenda package for Tuesday’s regular meeting, Armstrong says she is resigning because she believes her principles are “compromised.”

“After months of reflection and a recent review of deeply troubling information from the Kingsville school naming committee meetings, I am withdrawing from the restorative justice process and submitting my resignation,” Armstrong wrote. “What is most concerning is that trustees who were already aware of this information nevertheless chose to spend board funds - resources meant to support students in the classroom - on a restorative justice process that, now, in my view would be little more than a performance.”

Hatfield commented on the role of current trustees in her remarks as well, making vague references to behaviours in the board room.

“In my opinion, some trustees have a stronger understanding of our mission, our values and priorities, and how these all align with good governance,” Hatfield said. “And in my opinion, some trustees are more mindful of how our public meetings impact confidence in our school board. As much as I try to provide prudent and sensible guidance to the board, as a chair should, some trustees will choose a different and sometimes difficult path.”

Armstrong is not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting and has declined repeated requests for an interview by CTV News.