Chilliwack school trustee Heather Maahs has been censured for a third time.
Trustee Maahs has been barred from attending in-camera meetings for the rest of the 2023-24 school year after receiving another formal censure last week from the Chilliwack Board of Education.
鈥淎t its Feb. 13 in-camera meeting, the board met to address an alleged breach in confidentiality by a member of the board,鈥� according to the Chilliwack School District website.
The board decided that Maahs 鈥渉ad not upheld the confidentiality鈥� as required in accordance with Section 7.4 of Bylaw 5.
It did not disclose the nature of the subject matter in question due to the inherent confidentiality issues.
The last time Maahs was singled out for board censure was in December 2023. Officials said at the time that it was due to the trustee鈥檚 ongoing 鈥減ublic opposition to inclusive practices that are endorsed by the Board of Education.鈥�
Maahs offered The Progress a statement in December, saying she found it 鈥渄isappointing鈥� to be censured for 鈥渞eposting鈥� an article that talked about a survey of students, and their personal pronouns:
鈥淚n the 15 years I鈥檝e been a school trustee, parental rights have been a priority for me,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淲hen I see an issue/article that I believe is important for parents to be informed of, I鈥檒l raise it, just like I brought forward the parental rights policy that was unfortunately not passed.鈥�
Maahs received the first expression of board censure in March 2023, which stated in part: 鈥淎dditionally, trustees will accept the decisions of the board and support proposed actions in the implementation of a decision, regardless of holding an opposing position in debate or casting an opposition vote.鈥�
Prior to this, the last time the board censured one of its own was in 2020, when the board censured then-trustee Barry Neufeld, which resulted in him being barred from the schools, school events, and committees.
The word 鈥渃ensure鈥� can be defined as 鈥渁 severe expression of disapproval,鈥� often in a formal statement, as the school board did in issuing a public statement about the censure of a trustee.
The board then sets the parameters for the censure and any actions taken.
Superintendent Rohan Arul-Pragasm read out the following statement at the end of the Feb. 13 board meeting:
鈥淓very adult in the K-12 system carries the responsibility to proactively create safe, caring, and inclusive learning environments for all students, and support experiences of safety, dignity, and respect.
鈥淚t is also important that every adult in the K-12 system feels that their own safety and well-being is supported at their school or workplace.鈥�
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