School closure debate

A group of parents have filed complaints against a school board trustee and a city councillor accusing them of acting unethically during a meeting to decide the fate of two Burlington schools.

Members of the Save Bateman Committee say the words of school trustee Leah Reynolds weren’t her own because they could see Burlington city councillor Marianne Meed Ward typing instructions to Reynolds on her iPad.

Lisa Bull took a picture where one message said: “don’t vote in favour”. She says she was talking about a motion put forward by another trustee, Amy Collard, to explore a partnership between Robert Bateman and Nelson high school, to save the school and some of it’s unique programs in skilled trades and special needs.

The chair of the Halton District School Board says receiving emails and texts during a meeting isn’t against the rules but parents say Meed Ward was instructing her on how to block the motion and that Reynolds campaigned on a platform of “no school closures”.

At one point Central high school, the oldest school in the city, was being considered for closure but it was taken off the list before the Education Director submitted his final report. The Save Bateman Committee is also accusing Meed Ward of influencing the decision to pull Central school off the closure list.

We asked Meed Ward for an interview but she said she wasn’t available. She sent us a statement saying, “the texts related to procedural matters only and had nothing to do with the content of motions regarding school closures and alternatives…”

Leah Reynolds didn’t respond to our interview request.

The Save Batemen Committee is calling for an investigation into the incident and the suspension of school board trustee Leah Reynolds. They also want anything that has to do with the final vote to close Bateman to be put on pause. That final vote on whether or not to close the school was 10-1 in favour of closing.