Re: “Trustee criticized for blog post,” Feb. 19.

Trustee Deborah Nohr’s comments regarding the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils were both factual and appropriate.

The validity of a stakeholder group as a voice of its constituency is absolutely an issue that trustees should take an interest in. From my observations, it appears trustees have long relied on VCPAC as a convenient means to meet their consultation responsibilities, regardless of its effectiveness at representing the interests of district parents.

My view is that Nohr’s suggestion to supplement VCPAC’s input by engaging directly with all PACs in the district was simply reflective of her efforts to broaden the discussion about public education. It’s regrettable that board chair Peg Orcherton chose to look beyond the text and obvious intent of Nohr’s words and instead focus on two words, “democratic representation,” in making her accusation of internal meddling.

The School Act states that both district and school PACs have the authority to provide comment to the board; with this in mind, why not engage both?

It is also unfortunate that the chair and her colleagues see no irony in their unwillingness to examine the fitness of VCPAC’s internal workings. The board affords VCPAC a seat at its table, counts on it to reflect the views of thousands of parents and pays the lion’s share of its annual operating funds. If the board chooses not to examine VCPAC’s numerous and significant shortcomings, one must question its interest in considering the views of district parents in its decisions.

Rob Paynter

Victoria

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