At the Feb. 22 school board meeting, one of the common complaints made by those upset with the trustees' decision to fire Ryan Land as principal of R.D. Parker Collegiate was that some trustees voted on the decision despite being in what the audience perceived as conflict-of-interest positions.
Responding to these complaints, board chair Rob Pellizzaro agreed to solicit both a legal opinion and the opinion of the Manitoba Association of School Boards on the issue.
The results are in, and - at least legally - the trustees are in the clear.
The main issue centred around board vice-chair Guido Oliveira and trustee Vince Nowlin, both of whom have spouses who work at the high school. Several people at the meeting suggested that this put them in a position of conflict when dealing with matters concerning Land.
"It is my opinion that no pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, reasonably arises from this situation," wrote Kristin L. Gibson, a lawyer with Winnipeg law firm Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson. "Mr. Land is in the same bargaining unit as at least one of the spouses in question, and the issue voted upon by the Board of Trustees is well removed from influence by or on behalf of those individuals."
As principal of R.D. Parker, Land was part of the Thompson Teachers Association bargaining unit, as are all teachers, vice-principals, and principals in the School District of Mystery Lake, though the Manitoba Association of School Boards has lobbied to change this.
"In my opinion, the fact that these trustees' wives work within the Mystery Lake School District, a fact which is well known to the electorate, does not constitute a conflict of interest preventing them from dealing with personnel matters at R.D. Parker Collegiate," continued Gibson.
Gibson limited her analysis to pecuniary interests - defined in the Public Schools Act as interests where a trustee, their spouse, or another dependent will receive money or another type of compensation through the result of the decision - because that is the only reason a trustee could find themselves in a conflict-of-interest position under the Public Schools Act.
The Manitoba Association of School Boards, however, has been asking boards to go beyond the letter of the law and develop their own guidelines for conflicts of interest. "The Manitoba Association of School Boards has recommended to all school boards that they develop individual codes of conduct, which would include guidelines on conflicts of interest," explained Pellizzaro in an e-mail. "The creation of such guidelines, as well as what they contain, is voluntary on the part of each school board. The School Board of the School District of Mystery Lake is in compliance with all current legislation and case law. The Board is currently undergoing a policy review and will take the recommendations of the Association into consideration."
Many Manitoban school boards have developed policies which go beyond the Public Schools Act definition. The Portage la Prairie School Division (PPSD) , for example, has included in their conflict-of-interest policy a clause stating that "The board desires its trustees to be alert to situations which have the appearance of a conflict of interest and to avoid actions that might embarrass themselves or the board." However, in spelling out situations from which a perceived conflict may arise, the PPSD limits itself to examples which could provide financial gain to a trustee, their spouse, or another dependent.
The Frontier School Division (FSD), which oversees 40 schools in rural and Northern Manitoba, takes their policy a few steps further. In addition to the situations spelled out under the Public Schools Act, and a similar declaration to the PPSD on perceived conflicts, the FSD considers trustees in conflict if they "attempt to influence a decision that will benefit themselves or an immediate family member" - in this case not specifying that the benefit must be financial - as well as if they "use information gained by performing their duties, which is not public information for their own benefit, the benefit of an immediate family member, or for the benefit of anyone."
The Prairie Rose School Division in Carman, by way of contrast, deals solely with pecuniary/financial conflicts, does not mention perceived conflicts, and explicitly states that there is no issue with the spouse of a trustee working for the division provided they are doing so on terms common to other employees in the same position.
Even if Oliveira and Nowlin had chosen to declare themselves as in conflict, the vote not to renew Land's contract would have passed, with trustees Pellizzaro, Alexander Ashton, and Valerie Wilson voting in favour, and Leslie Tucker and Sya Gregovski opposed.
The vote to demote Grant Kreuger from vice-principal to the teaching ranks, which was also held on Feb. 22, did not follow the same voting lines, with Gregovski declaring a conflict of interest and the other trustees voting unanimously in favour.
The status quo of a two-person R.D. Parker administration team composed of acting principal Wally Itson and vice-principal Rob Watt is likely to remain as such until at least April 5, when the next school board meeting will be held. At that meeting - and during an in camera session, closed to the public as personnel matters always are - there will be an item on the agenda, proposed by Tucker, to vote on reversing the Feb. 22 decisions on Land and Kreuger and restoring them to their administrative positions.
