There were some dramatic moments surrounding Richmond’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) policy at the school trustee all-candidates meeting Thursday, including when one incumbent candidate raised her “no” placard to indicate she hadn’t read SOGI 123.
Alice S. Wong later told the Richmond News in an email she has read it but was confused by the question.
A handful of candidates, mostly on the newly formed “Parents’ Slate,” voiced their opposition to SOGI 123 and the SOGI policy the Richmond School District adopted earlier this year.
SOGI 123 is not a curriculum, but rather a resource package to help educators make LGBTQ+ and gender non-binary students feel accepted. It advises school districts adopt inclusive policies that specifically mention sexual orientation and gender identity.
Candidate Charvine Adl, who opposes Richmond’s SOGI policy, called it “barely legal,” and Ivan Pak said gender fluidity “shouldn’t be in children’s minds.”
Those comments elicited head shaking from incumbent Debbie Tablotney.
“I think what’s needed is an administration advisory committee to help people understand what that policy is all about,” she said. “I think there’s been a lot of fear mongering. I wonder how many people have actually read the policy.”
Her comments won a round of applause from the audience.
The meeting was hosted by the Richmond Teachers’ Association, CUPE 716, Richmond Association of School Administrators and the Richmond District Parents Association. When moderator Al Klassen, former RTA president, posed a yes-or-no question to candidates asking if they’d read the SOGI 123 policy, Wong raised her “no” card.
She later clarified via email she had answered no because technically SOGI 123 is a resource package, not a policy. She also said she had read both SOGI 123 and Richmond's SOGI policy.
Earlier this year, Wong caused controversy by saying she raised her hand to vote to accept Richmond’s SOGI policy by accident.
Other incumbent candidates voiced their support for the policy, and talked of how dedicated they are to implementing it effectively.
“It was an incredible moment in June when I could raise my hand for the SOGI policy,” Donna Sargent said.
In all, only five of the 26 candidates said they opposed implementing Richmond’s SOGI policy in the yes-or-no question. Wong said she opposed it, and so did four members of the Parents’ Slate: Pak, Adl, James Li and Andrea Gong-Quinn.
Richard Lee, who is on the Parents' Slate, voted “yes” he would implement it, but clarified to the Richmond News that does not mean he supports the policy.
“As a school trustee, it’s a policy that was passed and I must implement it,” he said. “Once it was passed we are a team we don’t go out and speak against it.”
One topic that got all candidates to agree, though, was the need for seismic upgrades at Richmond schools.
“Every child should be in a safe environment,” Sargent said.
Others talked of the need to build a city centre school to accommodate the booming population in that neighbourhood.
“(City) council keeps handing out these contracts for tower after tower after tower, and we have the unique opportunity to ask them to subsidize a school,” candidate Harv Puni said.
Others wanted to change catchement boundaries to ensure parents can get their kids into neighbourhood schools.
When it came to teachers, Tablotney praised the return of the collective agreement both for job stability for staff and class sizes for kids. Rahim Othman with Richmond Community Coalition said there’s still more work to do, and Puni said educational assistants need more protections.
