Feb. 05, 2020
The following letter was sent by the Board of Trustees to the Minister of Education on February 5, 2020.
Dear Minister Adriana LaGrange:
Re: Recent Calgary Herald Article
The Board of Trustees of the Calgary Board of Education is disturbed by comments in the Calgary Herald yesterday. Specifically, that the CBE is being less than cooperative with the provincial investigation by not allowing former Trustee Davis to be interviewed.
Last week, the CBE cooperated with Grant Thornton LLP, the independent lead investigator, to allow for the former trustee to be interviewed. It is our understanding that your office was made aware of this on Friday, January 31.
Chair Marilyn Dennis also read a statement that addressed this issue at the commencement of our public board meeting yesterday. Part of this statement included the following:
“Throughout this process, our actions have been reasonable and consistent with how any organization under investigation would act. It is common for legal counsel to support organizations during investigations. At the start of the process, CBE confirmed with the lead investigator that CBE legal counsel could participate. The presence of legal counsel has not presented any concerns or challenges in 15 of 16 interviews completed to date. We understand that the sixteenth interview will be completed this week.”
We were also surprised to read that the investigation has been delayed due to the actions of the CBE.
On January 3, 2020 we received correspondence from Grant Thornton that they were requesting an extension to the original timeline. On January 9, it was confirmed that the deadline would be extended. It is our understanding that this request and subsequent approval for an extension was in no way related to any issues with the CBE.
The CBE has cooperated fully and acted in good faith throughout this investigation. Thank you for making your staff available for a call today with the CBE trustees and administration to discuss this matter. We believe that all parties involved have a shared interest in allowing a fair and accurate investigation to be completed without delay.
Respectfully,
Marilyn Dennis, Board Chair
Wards 5 & 10 | | Althea Adams, Vice-Chair
Wards 3 & 4 |
Trina Hurdman
Wards 1 & 2 | | Richard Hehr
Wards 8 & 9 |
Julie Hrdlicka
Wards 11 & 13 | | Mike Bradshaw
Wards 12 & 14 |
A copy of the letter can be read here.
