Victoria gets new school board chair after highly criticized budget process

A replacement has been found for the Greater Victoria School District's board chair, who resigned at the request of various Indigenous community members over a controversy about the district's budget. 

The previous chair Jordan Watters resigned last week, saying she was honouring a request from the Songhees Nation, Esquimalt Nation, Métis and urban Indigenous community members.

A new chair, Ann Whiteaker, was elected as the new chair Monday night during a public Zoom meeting.

School District 61 has a $7-million deficit, and many criticized its budgetary process as using Indigenous students' needs as a justification for controversial cuts to the district's popular music programs. 

In a survey, the district asked parents to rank the importance of Indigenous students' needs against those of non-Indigenous ones. In a later board presentation, a slide insinuated that the cuts to the popular music programs were considered because of a lack of Indigenous student participation. 

'A pattern of colonial thinking': teachers' association

One parent, Carey Newman, said the effect of the proposals suggested that the district would be bringing down the level of access and opportunity for all students, not raising the level for Indigenous students.

"I was pretty upset by that," Newman said at the time. He also resigned from the district's Indigenous Ad Hoc Committee.

The Greater Victoria Teachers' Association sent a letter to the school district expressing "disgust" with how the proposed cuts were communicated.

"To use Indigenous students to justify your cuts to music and other programming is racist and reprehensible," it read. "There is a pattern of colonial thinking permeating the leadership of the GVSD and tainting the budget process."

Watters to remain a trustee 

Watters announced her resignation on Twitter last week. She will stay on as a trustee.

"I hope my resignation demonstrates my commitment to reconciliation & to healing the relationships between the district & the Indigenous communities we serve," Watters tweeted. 

Frank Conibear, a teacher and chair of the Indigenous Education Committee with the teachers' association, said more work needs to be done to build and repair these relationships.

"We have a lot of teachers like myself who have a lot of experience dealing with the communities and students and [you should] consult with us ... maybe sometimes before you start making decisions so we can guide you through the process," said Conibear.

New board chair Whiteaker said the board is determined to "emerge transformed."

"Pushing forward certainly won't be easy and at times painful... . We know that," said Whiteaker.

"We're going to take what we've learned over the past year and collaboratively and collectively work to support students and staff."