New Westminster parents are continuing to call for an independent investigation into the Twitter controversy surrounding school trustee Dee Beattie — saying the issue shouldn’t end with Beattie’s resignation.
School board chair Maya Russell announced Beattie’s resignation at the school board meeting Tuesday night.
Beattie had been on a medical leave of absence since June after revelations that she had used a fake Twitter account to troll parents and others. Her resignation will now trigger a byelection, with the date yet to be set.
DPAC chair Laura Kwong, speaking to the school board Tuesday night, said the parent group has asked for a commitment from the board to “rebuild the trust that was broken by Dee Beattie’s behaviour.”
“The board of education operates as a collective body with collective responsibility to their electorate, and this collective responsibility necessitates a collective response,” Kwong said.
“We have also heard that the board does not see the need for any kind of investigation, but it’s not up the board to determine what the recipients of Ms. Beattie’s harassment need for atonement to occur.”
Kwong said any apology requires both an acknowledgment of wrongdoing and an action taken to correct that wrong, and the people directly affected by Beattie’s actions have said that an independent investigation would be that action.
“That’s why we are still asking for this on their behalf,” she said.
'Untrue, unfair, unreasonable': School board chair responds
Board chair Maya Russell, however, said the board took action as soon as the conduct came to their attention.
“We acted immediately, the board acted unanimously, and we took the strongest possible action. We continued, over the summer, to publicly and privately secure the resignation of the trustee, which I have been very happy to be able to announce tonight,” she said.
Russell also addressed the suggestion that the board knew, or should have known, about Beattie’s conduct.
“I want to say, unequivocal to me, that that is untrue, it’s unfair, and it’s unreasonable,” she said.
“Certainly, the board, I think some of us put things together after the fact, and I certainly question myself as to how I could have missed this conduct. But I had no knowledge of it, and neither did any member of this board,” she said in response. “I don’t want to hear this again, with respect.”
Parent James Plett added his voice to the call for an independent investigation, noting he and his wife were among those targeted by Beattie.
He said that even if Beattie has left New Westminster, the point is that she was working as a trustee during the time period in question. He said it’s unknown whether Beattie was using board resources or operating on social media during board hours.
“That’s unknown. It’s unclear if such a thing could happen again. An independent investigation is actually the only thing that can actually clear all of this up,” he said.
