January 29, 2009 5:47 PM
Toronto's Catholic trustees got their knuckles rapped by Norbert Hartmann this week when the provincially-appointed supervisor cited board misconduct that "continues to undermine confidence in Catholic education" for his refusal to appoint new chair positions.
Hartmann, who was assigned the responsibility to oversee the embattled board in the wake of a trustee spending scandal back in June 2008, cancelled Wednesday night's meeting just hours before he was slated to make the appointments of chair and vice-chair. Instead, he issued an official statement to trustees noting many behaviour-related reasons why he would not render such a decision at this point.
"Trustees were expected to demonstrate that they could work together in the public arena, be prepared to trust one another, treat each other with respect, and act in the best interests of students rather than for parochial or personal reasons," he wrote.
"Unfortunately, trustees' behaviour continues to fall considerably short of these expectations. The community as a whole is once again dismayed and disappointed by the actions of the board."
Incumbent chair Catherine LeBlanc-Miller, trustee for Ward 9, was one of two candidates nominated for the chair position by trustee colleagues last week (the other was Ward 11's Angela Kennedy, who was unavailable for comment as of deadline). She said she was "shocked" at Hartmann's last minute cancellation and subsequent public statement, and "very disappointed" in the lack of leadership on the parts of both Hartmann and Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne on choosing between her and Kennedy.
"I couldn't believe he would cancel and go public with a press release instead of affording us the respect of a meeting," she said, noting that the supervisory team previously advised trustees the board was legally required to have a chair.
"That was the advice they told us - in public - so how they're going to reconcile the two, I don't know. (Hartmann) said there wouldn't be a chair for 'a while.' I don't know how to measure 'a while.' I know how to measure a day, a week, a month, but how long is 'a while?'"
But parents tend to agree with Hartmann's decision.
Penny Boyce-Chester, co-chair of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network (GTCPN), said she was "embarrassed and disgusted" at media reports detailing the breakdown of trustee relations at last week's meeting of the board. Trustees had been expected to agree upon a unanimous endorsement for a new chair, but instead wound up hurling insults at each other, she said.
"We were hoping this would be a good opportunity; that the trustees would be embarrassed enough to be on their best behaviour. But they can't even sit in a meeting together without swearing at each other - it's unacceptable," she said. "They brought this on themselves again. And it's the 'again' part that is most troublesome to us, because they just haven't learned."
The GTCPN is now calling upon the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association (OCSTA) to try to reign in the trustees of the TCDSB before they embarrass themselves any further. Failing that, Boyce-Chester suggested unruly trustees should step down.
"Nothing they're doing is in the best interests of their students; it's all for themselves. If they don't want to be part of the system, they should resign," she said.
After nearly eight months of supervision, Hartmann said many TCDSB trustees were under the mistaken impression they would regain control of the board as of June - not so, he wrote.
"Supervision will not end while this board is in its current financial situation," Hartmann said, noting that Wynne's objectives have been unchanged from the outset of the supervisory process.
"There are times when clarity of focus and actions reach a point where it becomes impossible to achieve desired objectives. We have reached that point. At such times, it is prudent to step back, to be calm, to reflect, to re-focus on objectives and their original purpose and to get things back on track. This is the time."
Hartmann further said the roles and responsibilities of trustees will now be limited to those required under the vesting order, although they will still draw their $18,000 annual pay.
"I think it's very, very wrong to be rewarding their bad behaviour by paying them, but we're going to say a few rosaries and hope things get better," Boyce-Chester said. "These people are supposed to act as mentors to our students - our Catholic students - and I think they've forgotten that."