Trustees at the Waterloo Region District School Board agreed Monday that trustee Mike Ramsay breached the code of conduct at a special school board meeting.
Board members voted to impose all sanctions including to censure and bar Ramsay from attending all public and in-camera meetings, from receiving in-camera materials, and from sitting on any committees until Sept. 30.
Prior to the public meeting, trustees met in a closed session to deal with a confidential report with the integrity commissioner regarding a complaint filed Feb. 24. The complaint alleged that trustee Mike Ramsay had breached the trustee code of conduct.
The commissioner interviewed the complainant, trustee Ramsay, and other trustees and reviewed documentation provided by the complainant, by trustee Ramsay, and by witnesses.
“The report is a finding of facts, and it is up to trustees to decide whether the code of conduct has been breached and if so, if any sanctions will be imposed,” school board chair Scott Piatkowski said.
A motion was introduced and moved during the in-camera session before trustees voted at the public meeting.
The code of conduct requires a 2/3 vote in favour to find that there was a breech of a code of conduct as well as to impose any sanctions.
Each sanction was voted on separately. Six trustees voted in favour including Jayne Herring, Karen Meissner, Scott Piatkowski, Carol Millar, Joanne Weston, and Kathleen Woodcock.
Three trustees voted against the sanctions including Cindy Watson, Kathi Smith and Crystal Whetham.
Ramsay took to Twitter following the meeting saying that he feels bad for students, that time and money that could be invested on student learning to put kids first, is being wasted on a political vendetta.
“It can’t remove me from office," Ramsay said. "It’s just an attempt to embarrass me, but it has done the opposite.”
Dear parents, students and staff:
— Mike Ramsay (@_MikeRamsay) June 7, 2022
Here is my statement regarding the Code of Conduct Complaint that was filed against me.
⬇️ pic.twitter.com/4XpPHFGde4
