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Letter: The sound of trustee silence

Open letter to Richmond School District trustees, Where are you? You have been awfully quiet in the past few weeks.
Tablotney
2016 Richmond School Board chair Debbie Tablotney

Open letter to Richmond School District trustees,

Where are you? You have been awfully quiet in the past few weeks.

Are you concerned that standing up for students and families in Richmond will cause Mike Bernier, Minister of Education, to fire all of you? 

Personally, I would be more concerned about the voters firing you. The lack of opposition against the provincial government’s demands to balance the district budget (shortfall of $3.3M this year) and to increase the district utilization requirement to 95 per cent, seems to give off the impression that you find this acceptable. The Vancouver School Board has been nothing short of vocal. The VSB chooses to advocate for more education funding, as well as pressuring the government to waive the utilization requirement. The VSB voted against balancing their district budget at the risk of losing their jobs.

Meanwhile, our trustees are losing the confidence of parents here in Richmond. 

If I recall correctly, the petition that was circulating for over four weeks in the spring was not even endorsed by them. It’s awfully quiet out there. I hear nothing but crickets.

Emi Dyck

Richmond