WSD trustees re-elect Wasyliw as chair

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This article was published 14/09/2015 (2752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four staunch New Democrats now hold the most important jobs on the Winnipeg School Division board.

Trustees re-elected Mark Wasyliw as board chair Monday night.

At the first WSD meeting to be live streamed, trustees also named Sherri Rollins as vice-chair.

Chris Broughton will hold the powerful job of finance chair and will head up preparation of what will be close to a $400-million budget.

Lisa Naylor will chair the policy and program committee — Wasyliw cited her work in tightening up the ability of church groups to hold religious exercises in public schools.

Allan Beach heads building and transportation, and Dean Koshelanyk communications.

As in every year since 1995, maverick Mike Babinsky got shut out of a top job.

But so too did Cathy Collins, who, along with Wasyliw and Babinsky, was the only other veteran who sat on the board prior to last October’s election.

Collins had openly lashed out at how Wasyliw and Rollins handled the budget last March, criticism that drew the attention of investigator Prof. John Wiens when he filed his scathing provincial review of the board’s governance.

Then this summer, Collins hauled out a dictionary and publicly humiliated Broughton for his incorrect use of the word ‘fulsome’ during board meetings.

Trustees had scheduled a closed-door matter of trustee code of conduct Monday night — Collins said it was about her, and moved it into public session.

Collins said she had not targeted any individual. “There seemed to be some confusion — I meant no offence,” she said. “As educated people, we need to be conversant with the meaning of the words we use.”

Rollins told Collins she had indeed berated Broughton, who sat stone-faced, before the board let the matter drop.

Meanwhile, Education Minister James Allum notified trustees that he has approved a new gymnasium for Laura Secord School.

Wasyliw told the board in a short address that WSD will continue to provide much greater openness and transparency.

Meetings will be live streamed and archived on the division website.

There will be a report this year on the money that each school raises, and an audit of physical access to every school building, the latter a Broughton initiative.

Rollins proposed establishment of an aboriginal education council this fall, and the board will explore further accommodation of huge growth in French-language education, said Wasyliw, as well as indigenous language and Spanish bilingual programs.