Central Okanagan school trustees have settled on clarification of what constitutes a majority vote for electing a school board chair.
The trustees voted unanimously at Wednesday’s board of education meeting to define a majority as a minimum four votes and for voting booths be set up for the voting process.
The board of education has struggled for almost a year with this issue, referring it twice back to committee for further discussion, in the aftermath of Lee-Ann Tiede’s election as board chair at the Nov. 9, 2022, inaugural meeting.
While Tiede won over Julia Fraser and Chantelle Desrosiers on the first secret ballot, questions were raised by many, most notably the Central Okanagan Parent Advisory Council (COPAC), about the legitimacy of the voting process.
Simon Adams, president of COPAC at the time, made a presentation to the board after the vote, saying the process led to a conclusion some trustees had to have voted differently from their initial publicly stated preference either as a candidate or nominator, which he called misleading.
Adams also called for an open vote for the chair position rather than a secret ballot in the future to avoid any perceived confusion about where trustees stand on the final vote count.
He also made it clear COPAC had no issue with Tiede becoming the new school board chair.
Since Adams made his presentation, the board referred the matter to the policy committee for further discussion and brought up a resolution for adoption in April. That was when Desrosiers sought an amendment to change the ‘majority vote process’ to an absolute majority, essentially recognizing a minimum four votes would be needed on the seven-trustee board to become chair.
This was what sent the resolution back to committee for further discussion, with the recommendation put forward Wednesday (Oct. 11) receiving unanimous approval.
In the end, the board adopted a majority vote as “more than half,” which is also the definition of the B.C. School Trustees Association.
The election of board chair, board vice-chair and committee chairs will require a minimum four votes from trustees to serve in those positions.
While the secret ballot format will remain, trustees voiced support for the voting booth aspect to ensure they can vote without fear of pre-judgment or outside pressure.
“What we are implementing here makes the process a lot clearer for everyone,” said Desrosiers. “It was not abundantly clear before and it led to some confusion.”
Trustee Wayne Broughton welcomed the “heightened sense of confidentiality” the updated voting process will allow trustees, saying it protects the integrity of the board chair and vice-chair voting process.
READ MORE: COPAC takes issue with school board chair election process
READ MORE: Trustees struggle with board chair election majority protocol