The Richmond school district will have a new superintendent in April: Scott Robinson, the current deputy superintendent will replace Sherry Elwood who is retiring at the end of March.
Robinson worked as an assistant superintendent in Richmond and Vancouver and then worked as superintendent in Vancouver during a controversial time before going on medical leave in late 2016. He was appointed deputy superintendent in Richmond a year ago.
Robinson was Vancouver’s superintendent when that city’s board of education refused to pass a balanced budget, and there was an investigation into allegations of bullying by trustees of school board staff, which was set in motion by Elwood, then the president of the B.C. School Superintendents’ Association.
Shortly thereafter, the minister of education fired the board of education and replaced the elected trustees with an appointed trustee.
It was concluded by the independent investigator, Roslyn Goldner, that there was a “toxic work environment” stemming from some “systemic factors,” namely, the “partisan composition of the board,” the district’s governance model and a “lack of consistent role definition amongst trustees.”
Patti Bacchus, who was on the Vancouver board when Robinson left abruptly, said it was a “shock” when he left without informing the board and seemingly without a plan in place. The secretary-treasurer had left on medical leave the day before.
Robinson’s departure was followed by four other senior team members going on medical leave and the board scrambling to appoint an interim superintendent and secretary-treasurer. Bacchus said it felt like a “management strike.”
Leaving in that way showed “a real failure for someone in a CEO role of a large school district,” according to Bacchus.
Regardless, Bacchus called Robinson an “outstanding educational leader” with excellent inter-personal skills, but the political nature of being superintendent of a school district requires a “high level of political savvy.”
“I didn’t get the sense Scott was comfortable in that arena,” she added.
On the news that Robinson was appointed superintendent in Richmond, Bacchus said she wished him well.
“I hope the difficult lessons learned in Vancouver serve him well in Richmond,” she said.
Robinson didn’t respond to queries from the Richmond News about his departure from Vancouver, rather he said in an email, “I am very pleased to be taking over as superintendent in Richmond. I enjoyed my time at the VSB.”
