Delta school trustees narrowly supported a bid last week to pull out of the B.C. School Trustees Association.
Veteran trustee Dale Saip resurrected his motion, which was defeated last spring by the previous board.
This time, however, after much debate on both sides, it passed with trustees Fabian Milat, Bruce Reid and Rhiannon Bennett in favour.
Chair Laura Dixon and trustees Val Windsor and
Nick Kanakos voted in favour of maintaining the board's BCSTA membership.
Saip said the board's $60,000 membership fee could be better spent elsewhere in the district.
"I've made this point at other times," he said, adding he's raised the issue as far back as 1989.
"I've not seen a lot of positive communication come through the BCSTA," said Delta's longest-serving trustee.
Saip added there is a place for a provincial body representing trustees, saying he would like to see something "rise from the ashes." Kanakos, Dixon and Windsor all argued the BCSTA is a valuable resource and it is important to have school trustees from across the province speak as a group on issues such as education funding.
Dixon argued that it is imperative that Delta remains part of the association.
"The province works
with trustees through the BCSTA," Dixon said, adding that Delta will lose that voice if it withdraws its membership.
With the passing of the motion, Delta will give a year's notice that it plans to withdraw its
membership.
Up until last year, all 60 school districts in the province were members of the BCSTA. Both the Vancouver and Kootenay Lake school boards have since pulled their memberships, although according to a report in the Nelson Star, the Kootenay Lake district is reconsidering its decision.
At the local level the B.C. School Trustees Association provides professional development, legal counsel and communications. Provincially, it acts as a unified voice in advocating to government, other education partners and the public on matters affecting public education.
