The Langley District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) announced today it wants the Ministry of Education to remove the Langley School Board and replace it with an official trustee until the next municipal election in November 2011.

“Langley DPAC fully endorses the Auditor General's report and is eager to see all aspects of the report implemented as soon as possible. We are very concerned about the division on the Board of Education and the impact it has on students,” reads the DPAC press release.

“Given the sudden resignation of long-time trustee Joan Bech, and the continued dysfunction surrounding it, we have no confidence that the current board is committed to fully implementing the Auditor General's recommendations.”

The DPAC is concerned by the cost of the by-election required to replace the board’s chair, Joan Bech, who resigned on September 16 citing pressure from other trustees to step down.

Her resignation happened just a week after the provincial auditor general’s report on the district’s operations called for the board to improve its internal relations.

According to DPAC, costs for the by-election to replace Bech range from $50,000 to $70,000, for a trustee that the DPAC points out would only be in place until the municipal election, which will cost an additional $90,000.

DPAC President Megan Dykeman-Porohowski told the Tyee the motion is not set in stone, rather the district PACs will have a chance to vote on it at the DPAC's first general meeting on September 29. Dykeman-Porohowski says the DPAC decided to make a public announcement on the motion in order to give parents the opportunity to voice their opinion to their local PAC. If the motion passes, a letter will be drafted to Minister of Education Margaret MacDiarmid requesting she replace the board with an official trustee under the B.C. School Act.

“This is not anti-trustee, it isn’t against any particular trustee,” Dykeman-Porohowski told the Tyee.

“Everyday, we as parents are balancing our household budgets, and we are concerned about another needless $50,000 to $70,000 being spent.”

Board Trustee Stacy Cody was disappointed that the DPAC did not approach the board with their concerns before they turned to the media.

“If this Board is ever to move forward and set the appropriate tone at the top, we need to have the support of all Langley School District partner groups,” she told the Tyee, adding she was speaking personally and not on the board’s behalf.

The Tyee was unable to reach the rest of the trustees on the board.

Katie Hyslop reports on education issues for the Tyee.