Censure of public school board trustee Mike Ramsay upheld by his colleagues

The censure of Waterloo Region District School Board trustee Mike Ramsay has been upheld by his colleagues, meaning he will not be allowed to attend meetings until the fall.

On June 6, trustees voted 6-3 in favour of a motion that said Ramsay, who represents Kitchener, Ont., on the board, had violated the school board trustee code of conduct. 

Ramsay had asked for the censure to be overturned. His trustee colleagues discussed that request during a closed session before Monday night's meeting, board chairperson Scott Piatkowski said at the start of the open session.

The exact complaint made against Ramsay has not been made public, although Ramsay has called for more information to be released.

In a message on Twitter on Monday before the meeting, Ramsay said he is "not popular with the majority of the trustees because I don't follow their political agenda."

"The abuse and weaponization of the complaint process to silence a Black trustee whose opinions they don't like is the result," he said in the statement. 

He questioned the need for secrecy. In a statement after the June 6th meeting when Ramsay was first censured, the board of trustees said that under the Education Act, the board is not allowed to release the integrity commissioner's report because it was "part of the private in-camera session."

Vote to revoke censure failed

At Monday's meeting, Trustee Cindi Watson moved, and Kathi Smith seconded, a motion to revoke the finding that Ramsay breached the code of conduct.

Watson asked to speak to the motion in the open session, but Piatkowski said she could not do so because deliberations took place in-camera.

Watson, Smith and Crystal Whetham voted in favour of the motion.

Jayne Herring, Karen Meissner, Carol Millar, Joanne Weston, Piatkowski and Kathleen Woodcok voted against the motion.

Student trustees Kenzy Soror and Nicole Vishkin abstained from the vote.

Ramsay can continue his work as a trustee, but will not be allowed to attend meetings until Sept. 30, although the board typically does not meet in the summer months.

This fall, school board trustee elections will be held at the same time as the municipal election. Voting day is Oct. 24.