家长发言选登：温哥华教育局违反政策制定程序

By Yali Zhou

发言人：Yali Zhou

I am a Vancouver resident and a mother of a 6.5 years old boy. He used to have a friend that always frustrated him because he never played by the rules. As we all know: no rules, no

game. An unjust procedure won’t produce a just result. Recently parents like me feel very frustrated by the Vancouver School Board for not following the VSB “Board Policy

Development” procedure in making the “Draft Revised Policy and Regulations: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities (ACB and ACB R-1)” (thereafter referred to as the policy). It is sincerely suggested that the policy should not be submitted to the whole board for action on June 16th.

我是温哥华的居民，也是一位 6 岁半男孩的母亲。他以前有位朋友常常让他感到沮丧，因为他从来不遵守游戏规则。正如我们所知的：没有规则就没有游戏。程序非正义不会产生结果正义。近期有很多家长像我一样对温哥华教育局在制定“政策与规章制度的修改草案：性取向与性别认同 (ACB and ACB R-1)”过程中不遵守温哥华“教育局政策发展”程序感到非常沮丧。

According to VSB “Board Policy Development” procedure at the VSB website:1

根据温哥华教育局网站的温哥华“教育局政策发展”程序：

“It is the wish and practice of the Board to consult groups affected by a proposed new or changed policy prior to making its final decision; the Board’s Standing Committee structure allows for consultation and deliberation before the matter is recommended to the whole Board for action.”

Question 1: What groups affected by the policy have you consulted? How? When? Where? Please give us details.

(Please refer to VSB “Board Policy Development”: “ Because the policies of the Board govern the entire range of school district operations and programs, the formulation and development of policies affect various groups of people, including students, staff, senior management, trustees, and the community at large.” and “Draft Revised Policy and Regulations”: “The Board of Education is committed to establishing and maintaining a 1 http://www.vsb.bc.ca/district-policy/bf-board-policy-development safe, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming learning and working environment for all members of the school community.)

（请参考温哥华“教育局政策发展”程序：由于教育局的各项政策管理着整个学校区的运作和项目，政策的行程和发展影响各个群体的人，包括学生、教职员、高级管理人员、学务委员和整个社区。”以及“政策与规章制度的修改草案”：教育委员会致力于为所有学校社区成员建立和保持安全、包容、平等和亲切的学习及工作环境。）

According to the VSB committee meeting minutes at its website, it shows that the first time this policy came into view was linked behind the word Agenda in a very inconspicuous manner on April 10th . And the policy was brought out at the committee meeting on April 16,2014.22 If not for the parents who have been observing the VSB meetings voluntarily for years, it would have been voted on May 20th. There was no prior Committee III meeting that provided “ample opportunity for groups, individuals, and delegations to make their views known and assist the Committee in drafting the proposed policy”.

根据温哥华教育局网站的会务纪要，政策第一次在网上出现是 4 月10 日，非常不起眼地链接在“会议日程”这个词后面。政策真正提交到委员会是2014 年4 月16 日。如果不是志愿者多年来以观察员身份出席委员会会议，此项政策早在5 月20 日就通过了。在4 月16 日之前，并没有任何的第三委员会会议“为各个群体、个人、代表团表达自己的观点和协助委员会起草提交的政策提供充分的机会”。

Question 2. How amply is the opportunity provided by VSB in 43 days (from April 16th to May 29th) for groups, individuals, and delegations to make their views known?

43 days are not enough for ample consultation and deliberation and the vast majority affected such as students, staff, senior management, trustees, and the community have not been consulted yet.

43 天对于进行充分的磋商和评议是远远不够的，而且温哥华教育局并没有与大多数受影响的人，如学生、教职员、高级管理人员、学务委员和整个社区进行磋商。

Question 3. Do you have a percentage of the people in the community that know the policy? 

Please kindly show us your evidence.

Question 4. Have you come up with multilingual versions of the policy?

Question 5. Have you got the approval from the recognized professional societies, such as the B.C. College of Family Physicians and the B. C. College of Psychologists, concerning this policy?

2 http://www.vsb.bc.ca/sites/default/files/minutes-files/14Apr16_op_commIII_report.pdf.

Question 6. With the self-identifying gender identity and the confidential regulations, does VSB have plan to ensure the privacy and safety of all students in the school, especially the vulnerable female kids? （Maybe when the policy is passed, we won’t be allowed to address them as female or girls. That’s so sad.）

问题六、关于性别自择和保密规定，温哥华教育局有没有计划来确保所有在校学生的隐私和安全，特别是脆弱的女孩子？（也许当这项政策被通过后，我们就不允许再用“女性”或者“女孩子”这些称谓了。这是很悲哀的事情。）

Question 7. Since May 14th, the Committee has heard so many concerns from the parents,what is your agenda in addressing such concerns? Do you have a timetable now? (Look,you only give us two hours to reply and we have already given you 15 days.)

问题七、在5 月14 日之后，委员会已经从家长方听到了许多值得关切的问题，那么你们解决这些问题的议事日程是什么？现在有没有时间表？（瞧，你们只给我们两个小时来做出答复，而我们已经给你们15 天了。）

Question 8. How can you come up with a revised draft that you are sure to vote with confidence and a clear conscience in 18 days from May 30th to June 16th? Just by providing three hearings in three weeks without giving answers to so many questions, without enough time for discussions, consultations with different groups and societies and researches in different areas, without another revised version?

The three hearings have been held in a row in such haste that in the first meeting VSB even had non-Vancouver speakers and the arrangement was one-sided. In the second hearing, many speakers were only given two hours to reply for confirmation. Of this hearing, lots of people were just notified last night to give a speech today after the 30 speakers （9：30pm） and their time-slots are not known. For such an important policy that is going to influence EVERY family, EVERY parent and EVERY child in this community, it is highly recommended to be cautious and inclusive. Since the VSB wants to promote a safe, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming environment in this policy, I was wondering why the parents were given such a short notice in such haste, why the parents were jeered at because of our language barrier and accent and were bombarded with hard questions while the other party always got sympathetic comments and encouragement, why the parents were not notified and the information was not put online for all to see that you are going to ask people to come in at 3 pm with their Vancouver ID but the other party occupied most of the seats in the meeting room. So many parents have been blocked outside, feeling very upset. Have you been creating a safe, inclusive, equitable and welcoming environment here for all the speakers and audience? If not, how can you, as educators and administrators, be trusted to educate our kids with those high-sounding values? 

When a party like my son’s old friend, doesn’t play by the rules, how can the result be satisfactory? When VSB doesn’t go through proper procedure to amend a policy, how can the content be safe for all children? VSB is like my son’s old friend that doesn’t play by the rules and ignores the needs and cry of other parties. The result will be a disastrous policy, a breach of trust, an offence of regulations and laws, a broken relationship between VSB and the parents, and worst of all, a broken relationship between all parents and children, no matter what sexual orientations and gender identities we have.

And I know there are over 125 speakers waiting to speak up and don’t have a chance yet.Still more people are out in the community without any trace of the knowledge of this policy. I couldn’t help but wondering whether the pushing of this agenda is out of political gains of a certain interest group. Have you really had all the kids in mind, including those in the LGBTQ+community? Have you really looked into the feasibility and consequences of the policy and its impact on all the families and the whole society? Are you going to add more confusion and complication to an already complex problem? If it is for the common good, let’s sit down and talk about it with patience, respect, care, tolerance and caution.

If you just look without seeing and listen without hearing, it is a wasted of all our time and energy to have the hearings. You need to show your sincerity and rebuild your trust in the community.

如果你们只是看却什么也看不进去，只是听却什么也听不进去，你们开听证会就是在浪费我们的时间和精力。你们得拿出诚意并在社区重建信任。

VSB probably needs 18 times 18 days to answer the questions the parents asked to insure that the policy is safe for all children before any tragedy occurs. Truth is truth. It is not afraid of exposure, consultation, communication, questioning and the passing of time. Owing to VSB’s violation of the VSB “Board Policy Development” procedure, the policy will have serious consequences and should not be recommended to the whole board for action on June 16th. 

温哥华教育局也许需要18 个18 天来回答家长提出的问题以确保在任何悲剧发生之前此项政策对所有孩子们都是安全的。真理就是真理。它不会害怕曝光、磋商、交流、询问和时间的流逝。鉴于温哥华教育局违反了其“教育局政策发展”程序，此项政策会导致严重后果，不应该在6 月16 日被提交到教育局全体委员会上进行投票。