Trustees elected to serve on the Nanaimo Ladysmith School Board in November will likely have to provide a criminal record check. The SD68 School Board has directed staff to come up with a policy this summer that could be implemented in time for the next municipal election.
Trustee Bill Bard voted against the motion, which was brought forward by Trustee Donna Allan. Bard says it will keep some people from running for the job. He says that with no way to guarantee the results will be kept confidential, it constitutes an invasion of privacy.
Bard has a criminal record dating back to 2006 when he was charged with the cultivation of marijuana, for which he served a 1-year conditional sentence.
Bard says trustees don’t work directly with students, so a criminal record check shouldn’t be necessary like it is for teachers and other school volunteers.
