Durham District School Board meeting spirals out of control, raises concerns

Another Durham District School Board meeting was shut down after a question period spiraled out of control. 

The meeting took place Monday night. The gallery filled with parents was cleared mid-meeting after concerned parents refused to quiet down during the question period.

It covered topics including human trafficking awareness, the inclusiveness of the board's Black graduation coach program, and sexual and gender education.

A significant portion of the question period focused on the choice of flags being flown outside local schools.

“It is improper to fly the national flag with another flag … of any type on the same flagpole,” attendee Janet Miller said. “Why are they disregarding rule, and in so, disregarding our nation's flag?”

Questioners could ask one question during the meeting, which had to be submitted beforehand in writing. One supplemental question could be asked based on the original question submitted, and only questions approved in advance by the board were able to be asked.

Some parents challenged this rule, including a questioner identified as Chris. His question also pertained to the types of flags schools choose to fly.

The crowd became disgruntled after board chair Donna Edwards refused to address Chris' supplemental question, which he said pertained to the original question submitted to, and approved by, trustees. Instead, the meeting moved on to address another question altogether.

“Why is that not a supplemental?” Chris said. “It's got to do with the flag pole.”

Video: Durham schools take part in International Day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia

The DDSB livestream was frequently paused, as onlookers became more vocal.

Speakers were also muted when raising their voices, or when Edwards deemed their questions too long.

As pushback from the crowd progressed, trustees decided to end the public question period. Instead, they decided to post questions online, alongside the board's answers.

“The noise in the audience is stopping the associate director from answering the question,” Edwards said.

The meeting continued after the removal of parents and onlookers.

Trustees addressed the request for bylaw amendments surrounding the public question period. The proposed amendments would have the public questions streamlined, meaning all questions would need to be submitted in writing prior to board meetings. It would also allow the chair to deny questions that go against the board's Human Rights Policy.

Trustee Linda Stone said the board needs to consider what parents have brought forward in their questions and emails. She said parents are not being fairly acknowledged by the board, and their concerns over bylaw amendments are completely warranted.

“This is the start of a slippery slope,” Stone said. “In fact, we're already sliding down this slope.”

She said this bylaw could restrict people's freedom of expression, and stop parents from questioning or presenting their issues at all.

“Our board should be seeking good questions and open discussion around difficult topics,” Stone said.

But Stone's attempt to lay this motion on the table was not received well by other board members, including student trustees Gwen Kuyt and Ben Cameron.

Kuyt said the massive influx of emails received by parents has left board members with ample opportunity to make an informed decision.

“We have received so many emails, which means we've had lots of time to read over them, consider the facts and process this information,” she said. “If you've been reading and checking your email frequently, you likely do as well.”

Stone referred the motion back to the governance and policy committee for further discussion, but the meeting timed out. It was cut off at 11 p.m.

This is the second board meeting Global News made several attempts to attend with a camera, and was denied entry.

The amendments will be reconsidered at a board meeting, on May 23.