The BC Supreme Court judge found that the board did not have the ‘implied authority’ to remove the two trustees from their duties
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A British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of two Greater Victoria School Board trustees who were suspended by the board in February after allegations of bullying and harassment related to Twitter posts.
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Rob Paynter and Diane McNally had sought a judicial review after they were suspended until October, ending their current terms as elections for school board members and city councils take place on October 15. .
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Judge Briana Hardwick said the board “does not have the implied authority to remove any of them from their duties.”
He said that was in part because the suspension power until the end of their terms would “unduly deprive the electorate of their right to choose their educational representatives.”
Paynter’s attorney, Nicholas Vaartnou, said the court found the suspensions went beyond the provisions of the School Law.
Both Paynter and McNally are running for another term in office and plan to attend Monday’s regularly scheduled board meeting.
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“Having my vote taken away by five board members and my ability to function as an elected official was beyond their reach,” McNally said. “So procedural fairness was overlooked in this.”
He said the decision is good for “local democracy and for democracy in general.”
Board President Ryan Painter said the decision is under review and administrators “will consider our options at this time.”
“The most important thing is that the community has a board of education that can function properly in an honest, legal and respectful way to advance the interests of our students,” he said. “At the moment, we have no further comment.”
Paynter said he was always confident in his and McNally’s position, but has mixed feelings about the outcome, as the case wasted a lot of money that could have been spent on education. “That really makes me sad.”
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He said the Ministry of Education could have provided further instructions. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside previously called the situation “a local government matter.”
The board had launched a third-party investigation into Paynter and McNally that found the alleged inappropriate comments were largely made on Twitter. A letter earlier this year from Painter said the two were among trustees linked to the use of public forums in May 2021 to disparage employees, including then-Superintendent Shelley Green.
His comments were part of the reason Green’s employment was mutually terminated, with a letter of apology later read into the public record. The trustee suspensions came after complaints filed in July 2021.
Several groups, including the Greater Victoria Teachers Association, the Songhees First Nation and the Confederation of Victorian Parents Advisory Councils, opposed the suspensions, arguing the process lacked transparency.
VCPAC President Tracy Humphreys called the court’s decision “great news” and said her group felt the absence of Paynter and McNally from board meetings was undemocratic.