It’s nice to hear the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is halting its practice of holding “shadow” meetings prior to regular public sessions.
However, we’re going to hold off on giving them thumbs up for the announcement until we see how committed trustees are to the idea.
Most of the elected officials saw nothing wrong with the long-practised habit of going over the agenda out of the public eye. When Hamilton Community News pointed out the apparent contradiction to the Education Act’s rules governing in-camera meetings, the previous and current chairs of the board defended their actions, saying no decisions were being made.
At the same time that story was being written, trustees gathered at an unannounced meeting to dole out committee positions and figure out who would be their next chair and vice-chair.
Forgive us for not believing that’s the act of a truly repentant board. And that’s why we will reserve judgment at this point.