Three Superior Court judges delivered a vindication for school board trustee Carol Ann Sloat on Friday, calling punishments meted out by the Grand Erie District School Board “punitive,” “harsh” and “unreasonable.”
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In quashing all four board decisions that Sloat breached a code of conduct, the court even hinted Sloat’s slight offenses may not have occurred, calling them “alleged contraventions”.
“I have found that the transgressions, if any, were minor, and the sanctions imposed in their totality to be unreasonable,” wrote Justice Nancy Backhouse.
“There is a sense that the applicant was unfairly dealt with and targeted.”
Sloat, a long-term trustee with the school board with no history of problems, questioned her fellow trustees about the use of in camera meetings in 2022 and, beginning in July of that year, faced two years of sanctions and complaints, leveled by board chair Susan Gibson, vice-chair Brian Doyle, and trustees Tom Waldschmidt and Elaine Thomas.
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Sloat’s code of conduct complaint to the board’s ombudsman named some issues that had been raised in camera, or in private meetings that she thought should have been public.
Multiple complaints were then leveled against her through the board’s code of conduct, including saying she allegedly disclosed information from in camera meetings, was disrespectful, didn’t sit where instructed during an in camera meeting and was in the public gallery of a board meeting after being barred.
Sloat insists she’s confounded by the complaints.
“I’m not perfect but I’ve tried to do my best to ask questions because that’s what you’re supposed to do as a trustee. I’ve tried to support the system and the staff. The 3,000 employees we have do great work,” she told the Expositor on Friday.
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The court indicated the board went overboard with its sanctions, noting Sloat was banned from public meetings and ordered not to even view the meetings on YouTube.
“This was in relation to what were, at most, minor or technical breaches,” said the court decision. “This was a very harsh consequence.”
The court decision compared sanctions against Sloat to those levied against other school board trustees who breached their codes of conduct and found they went wildly beyond the standards.
“The sanctions in other, arguably more egregious school trustee cases, were not more than a single general board meeting, if that,” Backhouse wrote.
This court decision awarded Sloat $10,000 in this case, adding to a previous $5,000 she was awarded, noting the matters have “no doubt diverted the board’s attention from its primary responsibility of promoting student achievement and well-being.”
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While the court could have sent the matters back to the public board, it declined.
“It is not an efficient use of public resources to send these matters back to the board to be started over again,” wrote the judge.
Board spokesperson Ryan Strang said the court’s decision has been received and is now being reviewed by board lawyers.
“The board of trustees will determine next steps. The board has no further comment at this time,” Strang said.
Sloat expressed her relief at the decision on Friday, but said the board could try to appeal it and has indicated it still has outstanding complaints against her.
“It’s been a long, hard slog for over two years,” said the trustee, noting that she and her family have financed the legal fight to raise about $100,000.
“The board has had a lot more lawyers involved and has pushed back every step of the way. Their bill has got to be more than half a million dollars.
“I’m not sure if we can get the rest back. I’m just excited we won the four cases,” Sloat said.
@EXPSGamble
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