Lester B. Pearson School Board holds closed-door meeting after ethics breach

The Lester B. Pearson School Board council of commissioners held a special meeting Monday night, to form a new committee.

That's as much information as the council would provide after it voted to discuss the matter behind closed doors.

At the start of the meeting, a commissioner noted the new committee would look into the "internal business"of the council.

The meeting comes after a commissioner was found guilty of breaching the board's code of ethics on three separate occasions. That information was revealed at the council's meeting on Sept. 26.

We are put in the dark and that's not right. It's a public institution.- Heidi Yetman, president ofPearson Teachers' Union

The person is said to have shared private information and not shown respectful behaviour to colleagues.

The board's ethics commissioner won't release the name of the guilty person,neither will anybody on the board.

Parents, teachers left in the dark

For some of the parents and teachers who made it out to the meeting, the secrecy is frustrating.

"I came here to hear about this new committee that's being formed and I'm again sitting here not knowing anything," saidHeidi Yetman, president of thePearson Teachers' Union.

"We are put in the dark and that's not right. It's a public institution. This is taxpayers' money and if it's taxpayers' money, we have a right to know what's going on."

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Special committee won't make decisions

Board chair Suanne Stein Day saysanything to do with the code of ethics and the behaviour of commissioners is confidential.

"The commissioners who called this meetingbasically feel that we don't have enough time to get together to deal with internal matters," she said.

"The special committee won't make any decisions, they will only make recommendations. If there are any recommendations, they will come back to council and they will be dealt with in public."