ARTICS » Private meeting time

February public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:45:25 +0000

In February, the CBE trustees again met far more in private than in public. In total, they met for 20 hours and 37 minutes.

Public time for February: 1 hours, 49 minutes (or 8.8% of the total board meeting time)

Private time: 18 hours, 48 minutes (or 91.2% of the total board meeting time)

This trend, where trustees spend far more time meeting in private than in public, is becoming shocking. August: 100% private, September: 52% private, October: 73% private, November: 77% private, December: 65% private, January: 75% private, February 91% private.

Breakdown by meeting:

February 6 and 7: These two days were private sessions, attended by Linda Dawson and Randy Quinn of the Aspen group. Again, two trustees voted against holding this meeting behind closed doors. Trustees met from 9:07am to 3:57pm (with a 35 minute lunch break) on February 7, and again from 9:02am to 4:13pm (breaking 30 minutes for lunch) on February 7. They spent 12 hours and 56 minutes meeting in private. The resulting motions referred work on board procedures and public engagement sessions to separate working groups of trustees and administrators.

February 7: Public meeting time was from 5:00pm to 5:40pm (40 minutes), with no private session.

February 21: In a departure from convention, the trustees convened the public meeting early, at 4:00pm, and moved immediately in camera, until 4:54pm (54 minutes). There is no indication what was discussed. That was followed by the remainder of the public meeting from 5:01pm to 6:10pm for 1 hour and 9 minutes. Another private session followed the meeting, from 6:27pm to 7:24pm (57 minutes). During the private session, the board received an alternative program proposal (likely, the Arabic language program) and a budget update.

February 28: This was a regularly scheduled private session, beginning at 3:02pm, lasting to 7:03pm (4 hours, 1 minute). Topics addressed during this meeting include: a bargaining mandate (for which Trustee Bazinet declared pecuniary interest), a school lease and relocation of an administrative office, the three-year collective agreement with CUPE, the three-year school capital plan, construction project status report, a recommendation concerning exempt staff, an update from the Chief Superintendent, a natural gas forward contract, correspondence and a human resources update. After excusing the administration, trustees also discussed the CEO evaluation process.

Once again, we’ll remind you that this list includes only meetings that are posted online and does not include working group meetings, attended by all trustees. It has been suggested that trustees meet for approximately two hours each week at information work sessions, or 8 hours per month. If those were accounted for, it would mean the trustees met for approximately 28 hours and 37 minutes in total, of which only 1 hour and 49 minutes were in public and the remaining 94% of the time spent behind closed doors. We’re concerned that the School Act (Section 70 “Open Meetings”), which requires trustees to meet in public (“(1) The meetings of a board shall be held in public”), is not being honoured in either the letter nor the spirit of the law. Trustees are allowed to meet in private only when they feel it is in the public interest (“(3) when a majority of the trustees present at a meeting of the board are of the opinion that it is in the public interest to hold the meeting or a part of the meeting in private for the purpose of considering any matter, the board may by resolution exclude any person from the meeting”), however trustees of the Calgary Board of Education have never described why they feel it is in the public’s interest that the public be excluded from the majority of meeting of the publicly elected board.

January public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:46:26 +0000

The meeting minutes for January 24th were not approved until March 20, and then not posted publicly for a number of days, which explains the lateness of this summary. In January, the CBE trustees again met far more in private than in public. In total, they met for 24 hours and 41 minutes.

Public time for January: 6 hours, 18 minutes (or 25.5% of the total board meeting time)

Private time: 18 hours, 23 minutes (or 74.5% of the total board meeting time)

This hardly reverses the trend that we have previously highlighted, where trustees are spending more time in private than public during the current school year. August: 100% private, September: 52% private, October: 73% private, November: 77% private, December: 65% private, January: 75% private.

Breakdown by meeting:

January 9 and 10: These two days were private sessions, attended by Linda Dawson and Randy Quinn of the Aspen group. It’s notable that two trustees voted against holding this meeting behind closed doors. Trustees met from 9:07am to 3:33pm on January 9, and again from 9:08am to 4:44pm on January 10. They spent 14 hours and 2 minutes meeting in private. The resulting motion was: “THAT the Board of Trustees refers the revised draft governance polices for Board consideration at the January 17, 2012 Board Meeting,” so it’s clear that the time was spent developing the new governance policies.

January 17: Public meeting time was from 5:02pm to 7:40pm (2 hours, 38 minutes), after which the private session lasted from 7:47pm to 9:01pm (1 hour, 14 minutes). The trustees made no public motions after moving out of the private session, so it’s impossible to determine what they discussed.

January 24: Public meeting time was from 4:58pm to 9:01pm (with two recesses of 12 minutes and 13 minutes) for 3 hours and 38 minutes. Private time was from 9:16pm to 9:24pm, which is 8 minutes. Again, no motions were passed at the conclusion, but Trustee Bazinet declared a pecuniary interest during the private session. Further, the meeting was not concluded, but “adjourned to the call of the chair.” There are no minutes publicly available for the conclusion of the meeting.

January 31: This was a regularly scheduled in-camera (private) session. Before moving in-camera, 2 minutes were held in public to approve the changes to the meeting schedule and locations (3:00pm to 3:02pm). The private session lasted from 3:09pm to 6:08pm (2 hours, 59 minutes). Again, the meeting didn’t conclude, but adjourned to the call of the chair. There are no minutes for the conclusion.

Once again, we’ll remind you that this list includes only meetings that are posted online and does not include working group meetings, attended by all trustees. Our goal by publishing this information is to shine the light on the volume of work being done by trustees behind closed doors.

December public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:00:05 +0000

The final December 2011 meeting minutes were approved at the February 7, 2012 public board meeting, which explains the lateness of this review. In December, the CBE trustees again met far more in private than in public. In total, they met for 23 hours and 16 minutes.

Public time for December: 8 hours, 15 minutes (or 35.5% of the total board meeting time)

Private time: 15 hours, 1 minute (or 64.5% of the total board meeting time)

Breakdown by meeting:

December 6: Public meeting time was from 5:00pm to 8:39pm (with a 15 minute recess) for 3 hours, 24 minutes of public meeting time. Private time was from 8:45pm to 8:49pm for just 4 minutes in private. In private, the trustees agreed for the Board Chair to sign a private letter on behalf of the Board of Trustees.

December 12 and 13: A private meeting from 9:02am to 5:10pm on December 12 (with a 28 minute recess at lunch), continued on December 13 from 9:05am to 4:30pm (with a 30 minute recess at lunch). That’s a total of 14 hours, 35 minutes in private. It’s interesting to note that Trustees Bazinet and Taylor voted against holding the meeting in private. Although there were no motions to indicate what work was done during these two days, the consultants from Aspen Group International, R. Quinn and L. Dawson were present both days.

December 20: Public meeting time was from 5:03pm to 10:46pm (with three recesses of 21 minutes, 19 minutes and 12 minutes) for 4 hour and 51 minutes. Private time from 10:51pm to 11:13pm, which is 22 minutes. In private, the trustees received another update from the chief superintendent, as well as private correspondence. The Board also approved the policy monitoring process and annual summative evaluation to be used for the chief superintendent.

November public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:30:04 +0000

In November, the CBE trustees again met far more in private than in public. In total, they met for 12 hours and 54 minutes.

Public time for November: 2 hours, 54 minutes (or 22.5% of the total board meeting time)

Private time: 10 hours (or 77.5% of the total board meeting time)

We’re beginning to see a very worrying trend. August: 100% private, September: 52% private, October: 73% private, November: 77% private.

Breakdown by meeting:

November 1: Public meeting time was from 5:00pm to 6:30pm for 1 hour, 30 minutes of public meeting time. Private time from 6:48pm to 7:24pm for 36 minutes in private. In private, the trustees accepted the minutes of the planning committee meetings, reappointed members of the audit committee and approved a Risk Assessment report.

November 14 and 15: A private meeting from 9:18am to approx. 11:18am on November 14, continued on November 15 from 9:26am to 11:00am. That’s a total of 3 hours, 34 minutes in private. The Board spent this time drafting a letter of response to ARTICS that was to be read into the public letter at the public meeting on November 15.

November 15: Public meeting time was from 5:00pm to 6:24pm for 1 hour and 24 minutes. Private time from 6:37pm to 7:15pm, which is 38 minutes. In private, the trustees reviewed the draft minutes of the audit committee and reviewed correspondence.

November 29 private meeting: Time: 3:00pm to 8:12pm. Total private meeting time: 5 hours, 12 minutes. Topics discussed include: draft financial statements and audit report, request of a report by management on how they will comply with the auditor’s recommendations (due Mar 31, 2012), the ASBA Representative Report, the fact the CBE doesn’t want ASBA to advocate by sending a letter to MLAs, approval of a human resources master services agreement, purchase of Oracle software, and the declaration of Montgomery school as “permanently surplus”. There were two very interesting decisions: the CBE doesn’t not want ASBA to rejoin CSBA or support them financially; and the sale of the old Education Centre at 515 Mcleod Trail. The Board of Trustees agreed to the terms in the letter of intent provided by the buyer, which doesn’t give any indication of negotiations.

October public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:00:58 +0000

On October 11 & 12, the CBE Board of Trustees, held a “special meeting” on October 11 & 12 which was not advertised. Special meetings were also held July 4 and November 16, without public notice. This concerns us because the spirit of the School Act is clear. Trustees should conduct their business in public. You can look to other government bodies to understand how they manage private meetings. By contrast, the City of Ottawa has clear guidelines to promote open meetings, similar in spirit to the City of Calgary policy on Transparency and Accountability. These guidelines include the requirement to advertise meetings, publish agendas and reports seven (7) days in advance and to state the reason to move in camera and the specific subject matter to be discussed. In Ottawa, closed meetings (in-camera sessions) may only be held to discuss:

The security of the property of the municipality or local board
Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees
A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board
Labour relations or employee negotiations
Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board
Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose

Meetings may only be closed to the public if:

The meeting is held for the purpose of educating or training the members
At the meeting, no member discusses any matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the board or committee.

We’d like to see the CBE bring in a policy dictating what is appropriate for private discussion. We feel that they do too much of their business behind closed doors. Case in point: On October 25, Trustees discussed “feedback on the new Education Act” at a private meeting. This is a topic of huge public interest. We should be able to see what trustees are saying about it and how they are representing our interests.

In October, the CBE trustees met far more in private than in public. In total, they met for 25 hours, 19 minutes.

Public time for October: 6 hours, 43 minutes (or 27% of the total board meeting time)

Private time: 18 hours, 36 minutes (or 73% of the total board meeting time)

Breakdown by meeting:

October 4: Public meeting time was from 5:00pm to 6:50pm for 1 hour, 50 minutes of public meeting time. Private time from 7:05pm to 8:19pm for 1 hour, 14 minutes in private. In private, the trustees appear to have drafted a letter.

October 11 and 12: A private meeting from 9:03am to 5:02pm on October 11, with a break from 11:00am to 11:53am, continued from 9:08am until 4:15pm on October 12. That’s a total of 14 hours, 13 minutes in private. There were no motions to indicate the subject of the meeting, however L. Dawson and R. Quinn of Aspen Group International were in attendance, so it is safe to assume the meeting included coaching on the governance role of the board of trustees.

It’s not clear why this discussion should be held in private. If the board is changing the Ends (goals) of the public school system in Calgary, we believe parents and community members would like to have input into those discussions.

October 18: Public meeting time was from 5:01pm to 10:26pm, with two recesses for a total of 32 minutes. This included both the organizational meeting and a regular board meeting. Private meeting time was from 10:36pm to 10:49pm. Topics discussed in private include: awarding a $2.1 million contract to Oracle, requesting new modular units for certain schools, a private letter to the president of ASBA.

October 25 private meeting: Time: 3:02pm to 5:58pm. Total private meeting time: 2 hours, 56 minutes. Topics discussed include: allowing ASBA to represent the CBE during tri-partite discussions, community newsletter inserts, the Education Centre Financial Status Report, feedback on the proposed Education Act (Bill 18).

Once again, we’ll remind you that this list includes only meetings that are posted online and does not include “planning committee” meetings, attended by all trustees. Our goal by publishing this information is to shine the light on the volume of work being done by trustees behind closed doors.

September public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:00:00 +0000

In September, the CBE trustees had more private meeting time than public meeting time. In total, they met a brief 5 hours, 46 minutes.

Public time for September: 2 hours, 47 minutes

Private time: 2 hours, 58 minutes

Breakdown by meeting:

September 6: Public meeting time was from 5:00pm to 5:26pm for 26 minutes of public meeting time. No private time.

September 20: Public meeting time: 5:04pm to 7:34pm. Recess for nine minutes at 6:18pm. Total public meeting time: 2 hours, 21 minutes. No private time.

September 27 private meeting: Time: 3:00pm to 6:08pm. Recess for 10 minutes at 4:35pm. Total private meeting time: 2 hours, 58 minutes. Topics discussed include: construction project status report, transferring schools to the Francophone school district, Chief Superintendent’s update, the Chief Superintendent’s emergency executive succession plan, vacation days and coverage for the Chief Superintendent, ATA local 38 liaison committee minutes, minutes of a special meeting on July 4 (restricted), labour relations update.

August public vs. private meeting time

Trina Hurdman — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:00:09 +0000

In August, the CBE trustees met only in private. Note that no public notice was given of the public meeting, although the entire time was spent in camera.

Public time for August: 0 minutes

Private time: 1 hour, 17 minutes

Breakdown by meeting:

August 15 : Private meeting time from 10:00am to 10:10 am Topics discussed: collective bargaining with the construction and maintenance union.

Reconvened from June 28 (held on August 15) : Private meeting time from 10:10am to 11:17am. Topics discussed include: the sale of the old Education Centre, the engagement of CB Richard Ellis and a human resources agreement.

ARTICS urges CBE Trustees to meet in public

Larry Leach — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:08:34 +0000

The following is the text of the stakeholder’s report that the ARTICS Chair gave at the first CBE board meeting in the new education centre on September 6, 2011.

My name is Larry Leach and I represent the Association for Responsive Trusteeship in Calgary Schools.

Welcome back everyone to another new and exciting school year. ARTICS is pleased to continue the good work we started in April of last year to work with you, as a Board and Trustees, to ensure that your work is transparent, that you are accountable to Calgarians and that you engage citizens to build the best public education system possible.

To that end, we have compiled some interesting data on your private vs. public meeting time for last year.

From data posted online, you met for almost 27 hours in public last year. But your private meeting time was 22 hours and 17 minutes. There were four months, September, January, February and March when your private time exceeded public, in some months quite significantly. We’ve provided a full breakdown for you.

It is important to note that private meeting time went down in April, May and June. We certainly hope this trend continues in 2011-2012 school year as many important decisions face us in another challenging budget year.

What is important to consider is that the totals do not include your informal meetings like weekly trustee work sessions, “committee of the whole” meetings and “planning” sessions – which we estimate average another two to three hours per week of private time.

You are doing MUCH of your work in private, which is contrary to the spirit of the School Act, which says that School Boards must hold their meetings in public.

It’s also clear that many of the things you discuss in private, hold great public interest. This includes:

Ranking criteria for capital projects,
10-year student accommodation and facilities strategies,
Education Matters,
Report on paperless board meetings and,
From last year, the report on Aboriginal Education.

Why are these being discussed in private?

ARTICS challenges trustees to be more transparent in 2011 and :

Stop holding these informal or “committee of the whole” meetings
Open all working Committee meetings to the public
Develop a policy to determine what topics are appropriate to be discussed in-camera and limit them to land, lease, legal and personnel
Include the reason why in any motion to go in-Camera.

It is fitting that we are making this presentation to you at the first board meeting in your new Education Centre. We have searched meeting minutes since 2006 and we can’t find any indication that this, the CBE’s biggest financial decision in its history was EVER discussed at a public meeting.

The deal was recently described as “the worst lease deal in Calgary’s History.”

You have to wonder if our students would be saddled with this bad deal for the next 19 years – if you had been transparent about the deal from the beginning.

Good governance comes with being transparent.

Thank you

April Public vs Private meeting time

Laura Shutiak — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:00:24 +0000

In April, the CBE trustees had more public meeting time than private time. It wasn’t by much, considering a number of lengthy school closure debates took place.

Public time for April: 7 hours, 39 minutes

Private time: 6 hours, 37 minutes

Breakdown by meeting:

April 5 : Public meeting time was from 5:01 to 8:46 p.m. Recess for 15 minutes at 6 p.m. and then eight minutes at 7:40. 3 hours, 22 minutes of public meeting time.

Private time: 8:55 to 11:32 p.m. Two hours, 33 minutes. Private topics included: Student Fees and Student Transportation Plan. (Because three trustees declared pecuniary interest, there were not enough trustees for quorum, so no motions were considered.)

April 19 : Public meeting time: 5:00 to 9:42 p.m. Recess for nine minutes at 6:51, 16 minutes at 8:29. Total public meeting time Four hours, 17 minutes.

Private Meeting time: 13 minutes: The only thing we know? Motion: THAT the Board approves the recommendation as contained in the private report dated April 19, 2011.

April 26 private meeting: Time: 3:03 p.m. to 6:54 p.m. for a total of three hours, 51 minutes.

Topics include: Teacher suspensions, Labour Relations Update Report, Disposition of Lands at Riverside Bungalow, demolition of two portables at Abbeydale School, Letter from Minister regarding disposition of old Education Centre Building, Construction Projects Status Reports, three re-appointments to Education Matters Board of Directors, EL-7 Compliance Update received for the record. Board of Trustees directs Administration to construct a budget process to maximize the opportunity for trustee involvement . . .

Once again, we’ll remind you that this list includes only meetings that are posted online and does not include informal “work sessions” held every Wednesday. Our goal by publishing this information is to shine the light on the volume of work being done by trustees outside of the public realm and contrary to the spirit of the School Act section 70 (Open meetings).

March: Private vs Public meetings

Laura Shutiak — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:58:43 +0000

For March, total public time was 346 minutes (5hrs 46min)

Private time was 366 minutes, (6hrs 6min)

This is the second month in a row where private time has been greater than the public time. It’s interesting to note that the Board “plans” to have their meeting time divided between 1/3 private and 2/3 public. So that is the expectation the public has about how much of their work should be done in private. If you care about transparency, which is one of ARTICS main issues, these hours spent in private, on many topics that have any relation to “land, legal or personnel” is worrisome. A public board should do their business in public.

March 1 Board Meeting:
Public Meeting time: 5 to 7: 54 p.m. with a nine-minute recess. (165 min)
Private meeting time: 8:07 p.m. to 9:44 p.m. (97 minutes)
Private topics: In this over 90 minute session, the board wrote a letter to the minister of education about the impact of recent budget cuts on the CBE. As well, they approved a report on the Chief Superintendent’s remuneration.

March 15 Board Meeting
Public: 5 p.m to 8:17 p.m. with a 16 minute recess. (181 minutes)
Private Meeting: 8:26 to 9:44 (78 minutes)
Private meting topics: “appropriate processes to dispose of the Education Centre at 515 Macleod Trail S.E. subject to the Board’s final approval as to the sale.”

March 22 Private Board Meeting
Private meeting time: 3 pm.. to 6:11 p.m. (191 minutes)
Topics include: 3-Year capital plan received for info, Communication to Schools and Parents “as discussed”, 2009/10 Audit Observations, the consent agenda included: Construction Projects Status Report, Education Centre Financial Status Report, Riverside Bungalow report, liaison report regarding EducationMatters, private report regarding P3 Schools.

In an effort to keep Calgarians informed about the work of the CBE trustees, ARTICS will compile data on private meeting time versus public time. I’ll remind you that the only topics that we know are discussed are the ones that have motions about them. As well, private meeting time does not include informal board meeting time, including work sessions, held every Wednesday.