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School trustees need another meeting to shorten meetings By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 3 · Friday, June 4, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Halton District School Board trustees learned Wednesday night there is no shortcut method to reducing the length of their regular meetings. The board was voting on a list of newly revised bylaws, but trustees decided to postpone the vote on two items for fear that discussion would take up too much time of the meeting. Ironically, one of those bylaws, which will be dealt with at a later date, deals with limiting the number of times and the length of time trustees can speak to any motion; something that, if passed, could reduce the length of the meetings. The meetings run from 7 p.m. to about 10 p.m. and sometimes beyond. The second item on the list of bylaws was whether a two-thirds majority would be required for a vote to pass. The new bylaws, which trustees voted to accept, are mostly a revision of already existing ones at the board. The bylaws, prepared by the Policy, Bylaw & Governance Committee of the board, chaired by Halton Hills trustee Gerry Ockenden, initially called for limiting trustees to speak only twice per motion and for no more than three minutes each time. At a previous meeting in May, when the bylaws were brought to the board for discussion, trustees went back and forth in discussing the limited time to speak rule. Halton Hills trustee Gillian Tuck Kutarna, who was against the new policy, said that some issues required more discussion in order for trustees to be able to make proper decisions. However, Oakville trustee Don Vrooman said items that need lengthy discussions can be spoken to during committee meetings, in order to reduce the length of the regular meet- ings. In order not to repeat the length discussion of a week ago, trustees voted to reconvene on the two items for the next Policy, Bylaw and Governance Committee meeting on June 9. Though the new bylaws are mostly a revision of previous ones, one was introduced that will change a procedure at the board. With the new bylaw, when the board has its inaugural meeting of the year or following a municipal election, trustees will vote on their choice of chair through ballot box, instead of the formerly counted vote. In a counted vote, the name of each trustee is recorded for whom they voted. With a ballot box, votes are made anonymously on paper. Not all trustees, however, voted to accept the new bylaw, which came as an amendment to the overall package. Burlington trustee Peggy Russell disagreed with the amendment saying, "We have a legal opinion that says we shouldn't do this and the public has a right to know how we vote." She added that hiding the votes in a ballot box reduces the board's accountability and transparency. However, Oakville trustee Phillippa Ellis said she's not concerned that transparency will be reduced because trustees' opinions are made known during the discussion portion of motion. Student trustee Chaitanya Dogra also disagreed with the ballot box vote. Student trustees are able to vote, however those votes are not counted for or against a motion, but serve as a way for the board to recognize the students' will and they are recorded in the minutes. Dogra said that if the vote goes to a ballot box, student trustees would no longer have a voice as they will not be able to participate. He voted against the bylaw, but his student trustee counterpart Laura McVey supported it. 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