Ombudsman finds June public board meeting did not violate rules

A contentious public school board meeting where police were called — which continued unannounced in another room following a disruption — did not violate provincial rules on open meetings.

That was the finding from Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé, who found the board acted "reasonably in exceptional circumstances." School boards are required under the Education Act to make their meetings accessible to the public.

The investigation of the June 25, 2024, special meeting of the Greater Essex County District School Board was prompted by a complaint.

The meeting was held to determine whether Trustee Linda Qin was in breach of the board's code of conduct stemming from incidents that prompted complaints.

After several warnings, board chair Gale Hatfield ordered people to leave for disrupting the proceedings with applause, mutters and spoken comments.

She called for a recess, and most of the board and staff gathered in a nearby committee room, per the board's safety plan.

Dubé said in his report this meeting room is where other open meetings are held, and the door remained open.

Police, who had been called to manage the crowd of a few dozen, recommended that the board not reconvene in the room, as members of the public were refusing to leave.

The board chose to resume the meeting in the committee room. No announcement was made that the meeting had resumed but according to Dubé's report, Qin was told the meeting was reconvening but chose to stay in the boardroom.

"A failure to provide notice that a meeting is reconvening in a different room decreases the transparency and accountability of those meetings," Dubé wrote.

However, he noted that the meeting room door remained open, though no one tried to enter.

"Evidence suggests that those in attendance would have likely been aware of the change in meeting location, and some even chose to listen in on the further proceedings," he wrote.

"Furthermore, the school board encountered exceptional circumstances, based on safety concerns, that may have affected its ability to provide official notice of the change in location," he said.

Dubé said the board wasn't capable of restarting the livestream broadcast of the meeting at the new location but notes video of the meeting was uploaded a day later.

He found that the board's actions complied with the rules around open meetings, but noted the board "may wish to expand its safety protocol to provide further instruction for exceptional circumstances, to ensure transparency and accountability at public meetings."

The report also states board members were escorted to their cars after the meeting due to the safety concerns. He noted one person reported finding people waiting at their vehicle to confront them.

"My office acknowledges the significant stress and negative impact that these safety concerns have had on the school board trustees and staff, and that the school board was faced with a difficult and unsafe situation."