Much of Tuesday night's final trustee meeting had the congratulatory air of colleagues saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, but one departing member had harsh words on the state of the school board.
First-time trustee Kate Cooke ended her tenure with a 1,600-word speech and several last-minute motions that were all deferred to various committees or the future board to discuss.
One motion pushed for a District 57 whistleblower and freedom of speech policy.
"It's about employee rights," Cooke said when introducing the motion.
Outgoing Betty Bekkering said she thought passing the motion would be unfair to the new members and re-elected trustee Tim Bennett noted the board needed more time, having just learned of the motion at the beginning of the meeting.
Cooke said she wasn't surprised all but her voted to defer it to the policy and governance committee.
"I'm disappointed. I'd like our board to take a stand and our board never did," she said. "It quite often moved things off to committee and behind closed doors where we're not having transparent conversations, sadly."
The idea arose from conversations with staff frustrated by restrictions on what they could say or put on social media, Cooke said.
"It's a great transparency piece," she said of the policy, adding it ensures, "people can come forward and say things and feel like they can talk about things that need to improve in the school district."
Cooke lost her reelection bid by almost 1,000 votes with 4,603 - behind the seventh-place Bob Harris, who made it on the board with 5,492 ballots in his name.
Transparency, communication and separating the board from district management were themes that ran through Cooke's exit speech, which she read at the end of the three-hour meeting.
For the next board to be successful, Cooke said it needs to separate from senior administration and treat it as "a partner group and not the eighth trustee."
"Board acted largely as an extended arm of management," she said.
She said the board at times played games and failed to follow through on recommendations and turn them into actions.
In comments that seemed to harken back to her freedom of speech motion, Cooke said she was frustrated by directives that trustees keep quiet.
"We were often told to accept board decisions, keep our opinions to ourselves, and leave all media interviews to the board chair or superintendent."
That culture extends beyond the board, she said, noting that the district "has unofficial gag orders for principals and other staff.
"When you as trustees go out and visit schools and seek to understand how their school operates, you want to know that the principal will not be interviewed afterwards about what was said. You do not want to hear that they are afraid to talk to trustees or put forward unusual initiatives. You do not want to hear that the SD culture is about fear, and not innovation or collaboration."
Cooke, who sat on the ad-hoc committee for technology, was especially critical of the district's standing as a data-driven district.
"There is little evidence of data beyond what the Ministry [of Education] requires us to collect," she said.
"We are making technology decisions based on highly questionable financial arguments and not because they support the teaching and learning that our staff would actually like to do. While we wait on this, a whole generation of students is not getting the opportunity to learn with and about technology that students in other districts get."
She finished by saying the new board has its work cut out for it.
"I wish you all the best and encourage you to set your expectations high and do it early," Cooke said.
In the aftermath, chair Sharel Warrington called Cooke the "questioner" among the group.
Cooke, who at times teared up during her speech, said her life would be much simpler now, but acknowledged she was disappointed voters left her out.
"I thought I had more work to do."
