Two sitting School Board trustees from SD57 (Prince George) are running for Prince George City Council on October 15th. Tim Bennett has been a trustee since 2011 (4 years as chair) and Ron Polillo since 2018. With respect to SD57, a June 24, 2021, Special Advisors report raised issues with the governance and leadership of the school district. Noting that “Good governance requires adherence to important principles, including transparency, accountability, fairness and justice, equity, and inclusion,” the Special Advisors offered some observations about SD57 trustee governance:
“Lack of trust and authentic engagement in decision making were frequently cited.”
“There appears to be some tension and need a to (sic – a need to) clearly articulate the difference between leadership and management of the district. The willingness is there but the ‘lanes’ are not clear.”
“Must be noted that the discussions we observed in the Board meetings were often very superficial and did not examine outcomes or intentions as fully as they could have - essentially Board receives information rather than being actively engaged in its consideration.”
These Council hopefuls are coming from a School Board the Special Advisors found was overseeing a system lacking in trust and authentic engagement in decision making. The Advisors also noted the Board was not clearly articulating the difference between leadership and management, and was not actively engaging or fully examining outcomes or intentions.
I’m intrigued to know what the governance impact on the City of Prince George will be if trustees from the current School Board are elected to Council.
Mike P. Gagel
Prince George
