Could the May Day lancers be a liability for the school district?
At a recent board of education meeting, chair Michael Ewen questioned whether the long-standing May Day tradition, which involves older men dancing with the elementary-school-aged May Queen suite, could pose a problem for the district down the road.
"The liability thing strikes me as being a big concern," Ewen said. "We need to have clarity around that, so if something happens we need to know."
The city and the district need to determine who's responsible for what aspect of May Day, specifically related to liability around the lancers, according to Ewen. The lancers and May Queen suite practice the dance on school grounds, but the dance is held in the evening at the May Day banquet.
"I said to the superintendent, so we have this group of people who are working with our students, one of them slips and falls on a puddle of water in the school, and we have a liability issue or don't we. Is the city responsible for that? Is there a group that's responsible? And I really don't know these things," he said.
Ewen questioned whether the district is following provincial policy on providing a criminal record check for those working with students.
But he noted that dealing with the liability issue could be as simple as having someone on site.
Trustee Lisa Graham said she believes the district already has chaperones assigned to the May Day schoolgirl dancers.
The lancer tradition was called into question by city council in the summer. As a result of a recommendation from council, city staff is beginning the process of talking to stakeholders about ways to "modernize" the event, after some parents and citizens shared their concerns about the lancer's dance tradition.
The city recently sent a letter to the school district outlining the recommendation, but provided no details in the brief letter on the discussions that it planned to embark on with the various stakeholders involved in May Day.
Superintendent John Woudzia agreed with Ewen that the district should consider the district's legal role in the lancer dance.
"I think it's important, from my view, that we do look into any potential liabilities that may exist with respect to the school district. The answer to those questions may be yes," Woudzia said.
The May Day tradition has been going on in New Westminster for more than 140 years and is one of longest running in the Commonwealth. May Day is a partnership between the district and the city and a handful of other civic groups. The district oversees the majority of the daytime events, while the city manages the evening activities.
The May Queen and her suite as well as the Royal Knights are made up of students from the district's nine elementary schools.
In the end, the board voted to forward a recommendation to its meeting next week that the city and the board hold a joint review of May Day next year. The recommendation is similar to another recent recommendation that the district consult on May Day with stakeholders next year.
Trustee David Phelan agreed the district needs to determine its responsibilities and have a "framework" for looking at May Day.
"It's also important that the people who participate in May Day are volunteers, they are building community, and we need to respect that," he said. "At the same time, (we need to) look at what our role as a school board is, what the city's role is and make sure that we understand what the process is going forward."
