School board, union give thumbs up to whistleblower policy | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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School board, union give thumbs up to whistleblower policy

Many school boards across the province, including School District 67, have begun work on new whistleblower and code-of-conduct rules for employees and trustees.
Image Credit: Souce/School District 67

PENTICTON - The Okanagan Skaha School District will fill in policy gaps by drafting whistleblower and trustee code-of-conduct and trustee conflict-of-interest rules.

The gaps were noted by B.C.'s auditor general when during a provincial school board review auditor staff noticed many boards do not have such rules and guidelines.

School District 67 secretary-treasurer Bonnie Roller Routley said many provincial school boards have old policies with no language covering best conduct practices or guides on avoiding conflict of interest issues.

The same goes for the whistleblower rules. Right now there is nothing official in school board policy protecting staff and trustees from coming forward with issues.

Roller-Routley said when completed the new whistleblower guide will be "a safety measure" so employees and trustees can come forward without feeling intimidated.

Okanagan Skaha Teachers' Union president Leslea Woodward called the move to draft whistleblower, code of conduct and conflict of interest policies a good idea.

"Anybody who sees a problem they are always nervous about how this will affect me," when they come forward Woodward said.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, send tweets to @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict. You can also check out Shannon Quesnel or Infotel News on Facebook.

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