A policy housekeeping issue for the Central Okanagan Board of Education was found to not be ready for adoption quite yet.

Trustees were presented Wednesday (April 12) with a recommendation from the policy committee to approve Policy 115 regarding inaugural and annual general board meetings.

But Section 2.4 of that policy, specifically stating for the election of a school board chair, the majority vote process will be used, was a point of contention.

Trustee Chantelle Desrosiers sought an amendment to change 鈥榯he majority vote process鈥� to an absolute majority, recognizing a minimum four votes would be needed on the seven-trustee board to become chair.

Desrosiers said her amendment arose out of the confusion expressed by some people about the school board election of trustee Lee-Ann Tiede as the board of education chair at the inaugural meeting of the newly elected school board last November.

Tiede along with Desrosiers and Julia Fraser were nominated for the position, and Tiede was declared winner on the first ballot, a decision that raised concerns about the voting process from Central Okanagan Parent Advisory Council president Simon Adams.

Speaking at the following board of education meeting on Nov. 23, Adams said some parents had registered concerns with the COPAC executive on how the inaugural meeting school chair vote was carried out, concluding some trustees had to have voted differently from their initially publicly stated preference either as a candidate or nominator, which he called misleading.

He called for an open vote for the chair position rather than a secret ballot in the future to avoid any perceive confusion of where trustees stand or the final vote count.

Desrosiers said her intent was to make it clear in the public鈥檚 eyes how school board chairs are elected, a process which in the past has been by following the absolute four vote majority mandate.

鈥淲hen you look it up, you see a lot of different interpretations about what a simple majority and what an absolute majority mean,鈥� said Desrosiers.

Up for adoption, the trustees ultimately opted to send the issue back to the policy committee for further clarification.

Trustee Amy Geistlinger said she felt uncomfortable trying to absorb the implications of a simple vs. absolute majority debate without further thought and consideration, a point trustees Wayne Broughton, Valene Johnson and Derosiers all voiced support for.

After further debate, Geistlinger indicated she favoured adoption of the committee policy recommendation, saying it was not controversial in her mind, but would be supportive of a continued review by the policy committee with further clarification on the majority matter.

On that point, Geistlinger was the lone trustee to vote against the referral back to the policy committee.

READ MORE: COPAC takes issue with school board chair election process