A Divisional Court has granted a temporary “Stay” for a trustee to rejoin the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board, for now.
On Wednesday, we told you court documents had been filed by North Prince Edward Trustee Rachel Prinzen.
It stems from a “whistleblower submission” by Prinzen to the Minister of Education.
What followed was an integrity commissioner’s investigation and subsequent discipline from the board of trustees, over code of conduct violations by Prinzen.
2024 Board Chair Shannon Binder announced the discipline at a public meeting of the HPEDSB Board of Trustees.
Audio Player“ … that Trustee Prinzen be barred from attending all or part of a meeting of the board, or a committee thereof and from sitting on one or more of the board’s committees commencing January 6, 2025 for a period of 90 days.”
The HPEDSB responded to our request for comment.
Joint statement from the new Board Chair Kari Kramp and the Director of Education Katherine MacIver.
“As you can appreciate, because this matter is before the courts, the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is limited in what we can say publicly. We are committed to following board processes and relevant legislation.
To reiterate the facts and our position:
- The board of trustees found that an individual trustee breached the board’s code of conduct and sanctions were imposed. The board’s decisions were made in consideration of an integrity commissioner report.
- Based on relevant legislation, the integrity commissioner’s report was not made available to the public, as it contains personal information and claims and allegations made by the individual trustee that were not substantiated. The HPEDSB can confirm that there is no investigation by the Ministry of Education resulting from the various claims made by the individual trustee.
- The individual trustee has applied for a judicial review of the board’s decisions.
- The individual trustee also brought a motion to stay the sanctions and any ongoing or new code of conduct investigations. This necessitated the board bringing a motion to seal the court file, on the grounds that the materials filed in court by the individual trustee contain the same confidential information from the integrity commissioner’s report and investigation, which is not to be disclosed publicly.”
“The board was notified by the court that the individual trustee’s stay of the sanctions was granted but the trustee’s request to stay new or any ongoing investigations was denied. The court also granted the board’s motion to seal the file temporarily and the court will decide on the exact portions of the court files that shall be redacted.”
Quinte News will not discuss specifics on the court filings while a seal is in place.
The Stay Order for Prinzen to rejoin the board serves as a pause of the sanctions, not a reversal/approval of them. A judicial review will decide that.
The Hastings Prince Edward School Board’s Board of Trustees will next meet on Monday February 24, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
