The new School District (SD) 57 Board and the Prince George District Teachers Association (PGDTA) are already butting heads – two board meetings in.
PGDTA president Daryl Beauregard opened tonight’s (Tuesday) hour-long school board meeting by raising two concerns he had about the prior December 13th board meeting which he previously contacted the board about, as well as the Ministry of Education.
His primary concern was the board’s response to someone who spoke at the first board meeting, who he said was “thanked and praised for stating a series of unsubstantiated attacks on public education, the work of my members, and the lawful gender and identity curriculum that allows our students to feel belonging at school.”
Beauregard was backed up by a gallery full of people clad in rainbow colours and pride shirts.
The speaker in question was Josh Silva, who was hyper-critical of the district and board in their December meeting, saying “it is very easy to see that our education system is not doing a whole lot… it breaks my heart when I hear some of the long time contributors to this talk about it like everything is beautiful and going just great.”
Beauregard’s main issue with Silva’s speech was centered around anti-LGBTQ comments made alongside the criticisms.
In the same sentence, Silva said problems like bullying, drug use, and phycological issues are up, as well as “the amount of children that are confused about their gender.”
He claimed cases of abuse between teachers and students in the district are also up.
“When you look at the numbers that are being presented to you by the upper administration and advisory committees, provincial or federal agendas are being shoved down your throat,” Silva continued.
Later, he said that parents need to “come together for our children, not the system and the woke agendas they are pushing on us.”
You can find Silva’s full comments at 16:35 of this video.
Following Silva’s statement, school board chair Rachael Weber told him “it takes great courage to come to the mic and say what you did tonight, you were heard. Thank you for taking time from your life to come tonight to make sure that we listened.”
“While members of the public might want to return to more regressive education practices of previous centuries, as trustees you are required to go beyond that,” Beauregard told the board tonight, in response.
“I urge you to reflect on this as a commitment as a trustee… please reflect if you can set aside your personal beliefs that might be in conflict, please reflect that you are not here to entertain any misguided, perhaps conspiracy thinking that sometimes emerges in our part of the province.”
“[He] criticized the work of teachers, said that we are abusing kids related to the gender equity and identity curriculum that is the lawful curriculum of British Columbia,” Beauregard told My PG Now after the meeting.
He said staff and students in the district identify in diverse ways, and that “allowing a member of the public to criticize our work like that makes it unsafe to be a student in this district who doesn’t conform to the binary norm, or to be a staff.”
Instead of thanking Silver, Beauregard also believes Weber should have asked him to “stop, or leave.”
“They have a duty to protect employees, they have a duty to protect kids. I thought getting thanked and praised for that speech that I found offensive does not protect staff or students appropriately.”
At the end of the board meeting, an emotional trustee Erica McLean addressed Beauregard’s letter.
“I have hope that we can get to a place where we will not other those who do not think like us or see things the way we do,” she said.
“Where we can truly celebrate safety and inclusion for all. But we can only do this work together.”
“I welcome a response,” Beauregard said, after the meeting. “I don’t want you to be silent, I want you to speak up. These are very important concerns.”
Beauregard’s other concern was that the December meeting opened with a “Christian prayer.”
“That segregated students and staff who may hold other religious views, who may be healing from centuries of oppressive colonialism, or who may just feel othered and no longer belonging in a system that should be open to all young people by law.”
Weber opened the December meeting in the following prayer.
“God the creator, we your people humbly come before you tonight. We thank you for your love, your guidance, your family, and your community. We pray for honesty, humility, courage, and integrity in everything we do this evening… God, please help us in everything that we do.”
The full prayer can be found at 2:00 in this video.
Weber responded to Beauregard’s criticism during the meeting, although the agenda policy on the District’s website clearly states “the Board will listen respectfully to comments, however, may not respond to questions during this time.”
She said the prayer was not a Christian prayer, it was written by the Mcleod Lake Indian Band.
“I was blessed with it and asked to say it at a meeting,” Weber said. “Before you start commenting on things in letters… please make sure your facts are correct.”
Weber did state this after leading the prayer in December, and would not allow Beauregard to respond.
“It was very one-sided,” he said. “It did appear to have the intent to silence me or bully me.”
Beauregard also mentioned that at this time, the Ministry of Education has not responded to the letter – but that this is not unusual after a week or two.
You can find Beauregard’s full statement at 8:00 in this video.