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UPDATE: Palliser Board Requests Province Oversee Review of Operations Following Allegations

Jan 13, 2016 | 8:55 PM

LETHBRIDGE: The Board of Trustees of Palliser Regional Schools is requesting the Minister of Education oversee an independent review of operations of the school system in light of allegations online of a culture of fear.

Superintendent Kevin Gietz requested an independent review because the allegations are distracting staff from daily operations and a focus on students and student learning.

Gietz has been accused of bullying, unwelcomed physical contact toward female employees and creating an intolerable working environment by former board Treasurer Michelle Gibb.

A lawsuit is pending but nothing has been proven in court.

A petition started online late last week that has collected nearly 400 signatures at the time this article was posted.

Comments on the petition suggest there is a culture of fear in the school board that employees cannot come forward with complaints about bullying and inappropriate workplace behaviour.

The matter was added to the agenda of Tuesday’s regular meeting and was the first item dealt with in consideration of the urgency.

In a letter he provided the board, Gietz asked for the review to begin as quickly as possible.

He said he is confident the review will affirm that the division’s work has been “in the best interest of our schools and our students.”

The Board of Trustees passed the motion unanimously.

Trustees discussed the importance of ensuring the independence and credibility of the process, as well as affirming the support of both the board and the superintendent for this review.

A review of operations at the central location was conducted in 2014 following Gibb’s statement of claim in 2013.

The review materialized nothing.

Board Chair Colleen Deitz has previously said she is not concerned about the workplace bullying allegations and says the petition doesn’t change anything.