A former trustee who was removed from her position with the Foothills School Division due to a conflict of interest had her appeal for re-instatement denied. Former school division trustee Jeannine Tucker, who was forced to leave in December shortly after being re-elected for her second-term, had her appeal rejected in Calgary provincial court on July 17. Tucker operated a small canteen at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond, a school that was under her jurisdiction. She was removed from the board by a unanimous vote by trustees in December. She was disappointed by Judge Willie deWit’s decision to deny the appeal. “I appealed for the people in my ward, who knew what I did and where I did it, and still wanted me to be their trustee,” Tucker said. She said at no time was the fact she ran the canteen a secret to the division or the public. Tucker added she never felt there was a conflict with her job and her duties as a trustee. “There was nothing that I ever discussed that put me in direct conflict in terms of my pecuniary interests,” she said. “This decision came down solely to one item in the school act that said ‘contract.’” She said the division became aware of the situation when Tucker mentioned she ran the concession while speaking at a conference, which was overheard by a lawyer. “He brought it to the attention of the division and I got disqualified,” said Tucker, who no longer runs the concession. She said one complication was she did not have a written lease. Tucker’s lawyer, Michael Oxman, said while deWit did rule against his client, the judge stressed there had been no wrongdoing by the former trustee. “I think there was one really important thing that the judge said in his decision,” Oxman said. “That was Ms. Tucker did absolutely nothing wrong. This decision, although it didn’t go our way, Ms. Tucker should feel vindicated.” Still it wasn’t the decision the Tucker camp wanted. “We are certainly disappointed, but I guess the judge did see things a little differently,” Oxman said. “It was based on the judge’s interpretation of the statute, in particularly Section 82. He found that section gave rise to an automatic disqualification of a trustee who had a contract with the board.” Drew Chipman, Foothills School Division assistant superintendent, corporate services, said his interpretation of the ruling was deWit felt the division acted accordingly. “I think it was just based on the legislation,” Chipman said. “He took a look at the argument and made a decision that the board acted appropriately under Section 82 of the school act.” The conflict of interest was brought to the attention of Foothills School Division early in Tucker’s second term, which began after she was elected in the municipal election in October. “It was brought to the board’s attention from an Alberta School Boards Association lawyer that there might be an issue,” Chipman said. “The board had obtained an opinion, that was the difference [from the first term].” Chipman said while relieved the situation is over, it was unfortunate. “I am glad it is over but it is unfortunate that somebody who did good work for the board, had the best interest of kids at the heart, it’s unfortunate that had to be the outcome,” Chipman said. “It’s good to have it finalized and that the board was seen as acting appropriately and we can move forward.” Foothills School Division chairman Larry Albrecht said setting a date for a byelection for Ward 1 will be a high priority when trustees reconvene in the fall. “That will be on the first agenda to hold a byelection looking at all the logistics of it,” Albrecht said. “We were waiting for the outcome of the appeal and now we can follow the legislation in terms of the bylection.” Tucker said she does not know if she will run in a byelection, if she is eligible to do so. The other trustees performed the duties for Ward 1 in Tucker’s absence after she was dismissed in December. “When the board passed the motion for disqualification, we wanted to ensure the schools were well covered,” Albrecht said. “The trustees have all taken on extra duties in order to do that. “We will continue to do that until someone is elected in that ward.” Tucker was the lone trustee who had experience on the board after voters went to the polls in October. The other trustees are, Larry Albrecht and Sharon Nichols, Okotoks; Theresa Letendre, Millarville-Red Deer Lake; Bill Young, Heritage Pointe-Blackie-Cayley and Jennifer Kristiansen, High River.
