Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / PML / The Chilliwack Board of Education has received over 300 emails in the wake of its most recent meeting on Tuesday, February 7. There were several topics on that agenda that generated strong feedback from the public, including a learning resources policy and a parental rights policy. Trustees are slated to meet again tonight, Tuesday, February 21.

By Marcus Gordon

Chilliwack Board of Education

SD33 trustees inundated with hundreds of emails following recent school board meeting

Feb 21, 2023 | 1:41 PM

CHILLIWACK — The Chilliwack Board of Education has been inundated with over 300 emails following a contentious meeting earlier this month in which several speakers had their microphones cut.

According to school board trustee Heather Maahs, the longest-serving current member of the Chilliwack school board, trustees have received at least 345 emails in the wake of its meeting on Tuesday, February 7 during which at least three speakers were cut off.

Not all of the 345 emails have come from Chilliwack parents, nor have 100 per cent of them come from outside groups, Maahs said. Nevertheless, Maahs says the volume of emails is unlike anything she’s seen in her nearly 15 years on the Chilliwack school board.

The meeting was also the scene of a fiery clash between current school board chair Willow Reichelt and former trustee Dr. Darrell Furgason.

Furgason, who served on the school board from 2018-2022 but was not reelected in the October 2022 municipal election, repeatedly pressed the school district for answers about the legality of sexually explicit materials in SD33.

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School board chair Willow Reichelt flatly denied the allegation there are illegal materials in SD33 and called the claims defamatory, before shutting off Furgason’s mic on at least two occasions and calling for him to leave the meeting.

The meeting recessed at one point for a little over 10 minutes to quell the fireworks.

Footage from the February 7th meeting has been circulating on Twitter under the hashtag of Chilliwack over the past two weeks.

It’s also one of the reasons why SD33 has posted a document called “Norms for Public Participation” on its website where the board agenda is posted. The document outlines what it considers acceptable comment within the two public participation periods of 15 minutes each at each board meeting.

For example, speakers are permitted two minutes each, must state their full name and their relation to SD33, and are required to be timely and courteous. Comments that are deemed discourteous or not aligned with the school board agenda could be met with an admonishment from the school board chair.