Teachers and parents in New Westminster are calling for more communication and transparency, but the board of education is closing the door on publicly discussing whether to hire a consultant to prepare a report on a hefty $2.8-million surprise deficit.
The board is also considering whether to hire a manager of finance to monitor the district's monthly expenditures and supervise finance office staff. These two items, which were presented openly at the board's finance and facilities meeting on Sept. 18, have been moved into a closed meeting and will not be debated in public.
"Anything to do with personnel is normally in closed," board chair James Janzen said. "(The recommendations are) out there, but in terms of the actual discussion about who we might hire and that kind of thing, that would be done in a closed session."
Janzen said the board has directed staff to determine the costs of hiring a consultant.
"Before we go ahead on anything, we have to know the costs," he said.
The move to a closed meeting doesn't sit well with district parent advisory council chair Rob Peregoodoff, who muttered, "That's a crock of shit," when the matter was mentioned at its Tuesday, Sept. 25 meeting.
"Once again these guys are making the same mistake, even after being told about the importance of communication and collaboration with both the teaching group and the parents' group," Peregoodoff told The Record. "They're going to make a major decision like this, to spend money on a consultant and the hiring of yet-another accountant to try and solve this problem."
Peregoodoff said he couldn't understand the fact that the board is taking the discussion behind closed doors.
