By Trina Hurdman
This video is the last hour and twenty minutes of the March 6, 2012 Calgary Board of Education board meeting where the trustees questioned and debated the new board procedures. The video of the rest of the meeting will be up in a couple of days.
CBE Board meeting March 7, 2012 excerpt – board procedures debate from ARTICS AssocResponsiveTrusteeCgy on Vimeo.
0:00 Corrections to the board procedures
3:43 Introduction of report by Trustee Bowen-Eyre
5:05 Trustee Ferguson moves to temporarily suspend Robert’s Rules of Order to eliminate debate on each amendment and just have a single session of debate (two rounds, with each trustee being able to speak for three minutes in each round) for the main motion and all amendments although they will each be voted on separately. Motion passes with Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane and Lane in favour. Trustees Taylor and Bazinet opposed.
14:30 Chair Cochrane states that Trustees Bowen-Eyre and King will be answering most of the questions as she is not temporarily stepping down as chair. As she was part of the working group bringing forward the motion, it is required by Robert’s Rules of Order that she step down for this item, as she did on December 20 when the procedures first came forward.
14:50 Trustee Bazinet asks how board meeting business can be introduced by anyone other than administration. How can a trustee bring forward a motion?
20:30 Trustee Taylor asks how a trustee can bring forward a motion to ask administration for a report about any matter.
27:52 Trustee Bazinet asks Chair Cochrane to step out of the chair as she is answering many questions. Chair Cochrane puts it to an informal vote of the Board (ie. No formal motion is made to suspend Robert’s Rules for this) and Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, and Lane indicate she should remain as chair.
28:40 Trustee Taylor asking for clarity on the use of “deliberations” in informal work sessions since nothing that furthers the work of the board can be legally done in these sessions.
31:10 Trustee King talks about how confidential information has been leaked to the Calgary Herald
31:30 Trustee Taylor asks how a trustee is to determine what is confidential in an informal work session since there are no motions to move in-camera and trustee opinions vary on what is confidential.
34:50 Trustee Taylor asks why, if this document is about legally constituted meetings, there are references throughout the document to meetings that are not legally constituted (ie. Informal work sessions).
37:58 Trustee Taylor asks the legal counsel how a trustee can know what is public or private information that comes forward in an informal work session.
40:06 Legal counsel asks for more information on what is done in these informal work sessions so that he can give more specific advice, and Chair Cochrane deflects the request by saying that time is short and they need to move on.
40:48 Trustee Taylor asks when debriefing will occur as the description says it happens after the conclusion of the meeting and the agenda template says it will happen before adjournment.
48:43 Trustee Bowen-Eyre brings forward the motion. Trustee Taylor presents her four amendments (that were previously sent to the Board).
#1. To remove all references to informal meetings in the document.
#2. To keep the provision for trustees to be able to make trustee inquiries which was removed in the new procedures.
#3. To keep the provision for trustees to be able to make a notice of motion which was removed in the new procedures.
#4. That board meeting agendas and reports be available publicly four days before the meeting (and two days after the trustees receive them) rather than one day as in the procedures.
57:14 Trustee Bowen-Eyre opens debate
59:50 Trustee Bazinet 1st round of debate
1:01:40 Trustee Taylor 1st round of debate
1:04:58 Trustee King 1st round of debate. Trustee Taylor makes a point of order that she feels that Trustee King is being disrespectful of other trustees. Chair Cochrane rules that there is no disrespect according to their procedures. Trustee King continues and makes allegations of bullying.
1:11:27 Trustee Taylor 2nd round of debate
1:14:08 Trustee Bazinet 2nd round of debate
1:16:40 Trustee Bowen-Eyre closes debate stating that she did an assessment of all 62 Albert school boards and that according to her assessment, the CBE is the most transparent and accountable of them all.
1:18:40 Voting on amendment #1. Motion fails with Trustees Taylor and Bazinet in favour and Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane and Lane opposed.
Voting on amendment #2. Motion fails with Trustee Taylor in favour and Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane, Lane and Bazinet opposed.
Voting on amendment #3. Motion fails with Trustees Taylor and Bazinet in favour and Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane and Lane opposed.
Voting on amendment #4. Motion fails with Trustees Taylor and Bazinet in favour and Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane and Lane opposed.
Voting on motion to approve the new procedures passes with Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane and Lane in favour and Trustees Taylor and Bazinet opposed.
1:20:48 Approval of consent agenda and late submission of Jan. 17 meeting minutes.