'Gridlocked': Catholic school board trustees in London, Ont. at standstill due to conflicts of interest

Gridlock at London District Catholic School Board 7 out of 8 LDCSB members have declared conflicts of interest, resulting in the board seeking court exemption. Brent Lale explains.

The London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) trustees are “gridlocked” after seven of its eight members declared a conflict of interest.

The Education Act — which governs schools and school boards — requires two members to be able to vote, but in the case of the LDCSB that isn’t currently possible.

LDCSB Trustee Chair Linda Steel is the only one not to declare a conflict.

She wrote in an affidavit to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (OSCOJ) that “seven of the eight trustees of the board have declined to vote on urgent matters necessary for the board to carry on business due to concerns over perceived conflicts of interest.”

Those trustees are Gabe Pizzuti, Sandra Cruz, Bill Hall, Mary Holmes, John Jevnikar, Josh Lamb, and Matt Pizzuti.

Now, the LDCSB is taking to the OSCOJ Friday to ask for an exemption to the conflict of interest laws in order to resume their day-to-day operations.

Since November, they’ve been at a stand still and cannot even vote on key issues such as the $312,000,000 budget.

“Given the number of trustees with family members employed in the board, we are taking careful and proactive steps to ensure we are compliant with our legislative and governance responsibilities,” Steel told CTV News London in a statement.

This is not the first time this has happened.

In 2008 the Huron-Perth District Catholic School Board (HPDCSB) had four of its five members declare a conflict.

They applied, and were granted an exemption by the court, and still use it to this day when necessary.

“We do have the ability to use that when we need to,” said Mary Helen Van Loon, chair of the HPDCSB trustees. “Currently we don't need to do it because we have three trustees that do have conflict, but still have two that do not.”

If LDCSB is granted an exemption by the OSCOJ, it will bring back all eight trustees to the table with the ability to vote.

“A beautiful part about this is that it does allow all of the trustees to make those decisions,” said Van Loon. “Those are big, important decisions and there's a lot of money being discussed and involved. So the more people that we've been harping on the better.”

The loss of quorum has put them at a standstill since late November. Steel wants this resolved as soon as possible so they can move forward.

“Receiving clarity from the court will enable the board of trustees to continue its work with confidence and transparency,” said Steel.