Re: “Endless search for right answer,” Dec. 12.

The question about whether to have a public question time for monthly school board meetings has gone through every convoluted argument and research avenue that never was necessary. Edith Loring-Kuhanga first made this motion last February.

The deliberate effort of longtime trustees to thwart this opportunity for the public flies in the face of the democratic right of citizens to ask questions at board meetings. It also flies in the face of the democratic right of citizens to expect that when they elect new trustees to represent them, the ideas these trustees were elected on will get fair hearing.

One of the shared goals of the trustees elected a year ago was to bring more accessibility to the school board so we would be motivated to be more caring about public education. But the longtime trustees have block-voted against almost every motion one of the new trustees has brought forward. They only change their votes when influential members of the community wonder why trustees would object to having their votes recorded.

I want to see elected school boards continue to work for their communities, but they can only work when respect is given to all trustees’ ideas, no matter how long they have been in office. To help this along, I will be lobbying provincial government for time limits on the tenure of school board trustees across the province.

Starla Anderson

Victoria

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