There will be no changes to the 2018 May Day celebrations.
School trustees approved a motion at Tuesday night’s board of education meeting to keep the status quo for next year’s May Day.
Trustee Michael Ewen argued it would give the district more time to consult with the community and the city “to more fully explore issues and options for the celebration of May Day.”
The City of New Westminster made a similar request earlier this month.
On Nov. 10, the city wrote to the school district voicing its support for May Day and acknowledging the hard work by district staff to put on the event.
But, out of concern there wouldn’t be enough time to act on any of the recommendations made by the May Day Task Force, the city urged the school board to forego any changes to the 2018 event.
Trustee Casey Cook agreed.
“The city is telling us that they expect to be part of a consultation process to look at what the options are for the future of May Day and how that will play out,” he said.
Superintendent Pat Duncan sent a memo to principals and vice-principals earlier this month asking administrators to see if any staff were interested in being part of the organizing committee. Only one person stepped forward, according to Duncan.
Given the low response rate, board chair Kelly Slade-Kerr said she was disappointed the city would ask the district to hold off on any changes until after the 2018 event and public consultation is complete.
“Last May Day was organized by Janet Grant, she’s gone. We don’t have an associate superintendent who I am going to insult by asking him to organize May Day. We have a bare bones staff. We have no one to organize this event, and I recognize where this is coming from but it is insulting to me that they (the city) say ‘we know you have operational challenges but please go ahead and do this so we can consult.’ It is not recognizing the difficult position that this board is in,” she said.
Slade-Kerr proposed the board ask the city to take a lead role in organizing May Day “to relieve the operational challenges of the school district.”
None of the other trustees supported her amendment.
With the fate of next year’s May Day decided, the school board will now shift its focus to further consultation. The motion approved by trustees includes an invitation to the city to “partner in a public consultation to determine the future observation of May Day.”
What that consultation will look like and whether the city will take part has not been decided yet.
Monday was the deadline for the community to respond to the recommendations made by the May Day task force.
More than 800 responses were received during the two-week consultation period, according to Duncan.
A report on the feedback is expected to be presented to the board of education at its combined Education and Operations Policy and Planning Committee meeting next Tuesday. (The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at the school district office, 811 Ontario St.)
