The City of West Âé¶čAV wants a larger voice around the Central Okanagan school board table.
The city council has sent a letter to the provincial education minister and Central Okanagan Board of Education calling for two trustees at large to be elected for the Westside, representing an area that would include West Âé¶čAV, Peachland, Westbank First Nation and the rural Electoral Area West.
Currently, West Âé¶čAV has one elected trustee, Julia Fraser, while school board chair Moyra Baxter represents Peachland, the WFN Reserves #9 and #10 and Electoral Area A.
West Âé¶čAV made the request under the guise of seeking more equitable representation on the board of education for the Westside.
But the request led to revisiting past debates about the distribution of school trustee representation, as trustee Rollie Cacchioni took West Âé¶čAVâs request one step further, suggesting both the Westside and Âé¶čAV deserve another elected trustee on the board, then bringing up the idea of electing all seven trustees at large rather than the current community-divided system, which he called outdated.
Cacchioni argued that in this era of proportional representation, trustees in Lake Country and the Westside represent fewer voters yet vote on decisions that impact Âé¶čAV-specific education decisions. Âé¶čAV voters currently elect four trustees.
He cited the example of middle schools being approved for the school district. Lake Country and Westside each were granted new middle school proposals, while Rutland Middle School, a priority for replacement, was initially going to get a $12 million âsecond rateâ upgrade.
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âThatâs why I voted against the original Rutland Middle School proposal,â said Cacchioni. The board has since embarked on seeking approval for a $35.9 million upgrade of Quigley Elementary to replace the existing RMS.
âItâs about voter parity. If I can be a Lake Country trustee and vote on something that affects Âé¶čAV, residents of Âé¶čAV should be able to vote for me or not.â
Cacchioni said West Âé¶čAVâs request is a step in the right direction, acknowledging his seven-at-large concept likely doesnât have majority support on the board.
âNobody supports that. Everyone is looking after their own bailiwick. If this request just gets kicked down the road, it wonât be addressed until the next election in 2022, if itâs done at all. And by that point West Âé¶čAV will have 50,000 people and still only have one seat on the board.â
Moyra Baxter, school board chair, and trustee Fraser disagreed with Cacchioniâs assessment, saying all trustees act in the best interests of the entire school district, regardless of what area elected them.
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Baxter noted Surrey is the largest populated school district in the province and has seven trustees on the board, one of which is elected from White Rock.
âSurrey has six trustees and White Rock has one on their board. But you never hear them having this debate. We seem to go through this meeting after meeting, and term after term,â Baxter said.
Fraser questioned the fiscal responsibility of such a move.
âWe are supposed to be purveyors of the purse strings for taxpayers, yet I feel this is just a waste of money now to go through this process,â Fraser said.
For his part, Cacchioni said any increase in administrative costs by increasing from seven to nine trustees could be addressed by reducing trustee honorariums.
Cacchioni said he plans to bring forward a motion at the next school board meeting to address West Âé¶čAVâs request and to add another trustee for Âé¶čAV.
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barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
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