School trustee Wayne Broughton has voiced his concerns at the religious references made by the board of education chair Lee-Ann Tiede in her École Kelowna Secondary School graduation ceremony speech last week.
At Wednesday's final board of education meeting for the 2023-24 school year, Broughton questioned Tiede's judgment, asking her to consider whether she should continue to represent the school board as chair if she can't uphold the secular values outlined in the School Act.
"I do not want to overstate the nature of the religious content," said Broughton in a prepared statement.
"All trustee graduation speeches include some personal reflections and perspectives, and I seriously doubt there would have been any raised eyebrows if it was simply a matter of a passing reference to your personal faith or including everyone in your prayers.
"But it was 30 seconds of your speech, and seemed so deliberate…"
Broughton said drawing religious references into her speech was inappropriate - calling it the wrong time, wrong place - and caused distress to some students during the most important day of their lives and also to some staff.
"But worst of all, you admitted it was wrong to talk about but then you said you were going to do it anyway. What kind of example does that set for our students: you can just go ahead and ignore the rules? This brings the board into disrepute."
Broughton said the secular policy of public schools under the School Act is to ensure the personal social culture and religious perspectives of all students.
"We have come a long way in public schools, and must be careful not to slide backwards like we are unfortunately seeing in some U.S. states," said Broughton, a reference to the governor of Louisiana last week signed legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom in the state.
In response, nine Louisiana families filed a federal lawsuit against that state's education department and their local school boards, with the support of civil rights groups.
Tiede's speech was filmed by a parent and posted to YouTube, which in turn generated some reaction on social media.
Wilbur Turner, a 2SLGBTQ advocate, questioned on X if religious prayer was appropriate at public school graduations.
In his post, Turner stated: In her words "We're in a public school and I'm not allowed to do this…" and she continued on taking advantage of her position of power. While religious freedom is important, public institutions must remain neutral on religious matters.
In the speech, Tiede did not specifically invoke a prayer to the students, instead telling the students she prays for their success as they move forward in their lives.
In her response to Broughton at the meeting, Tiede said she was not asking anyone to pray.
"I was just wishing all the best to the graduating students," she said.
As her comments did generate some backlash on social media, Tiede said the school district did send her comments to a lawyer for review to determine if she violated school district policy, and the response back was she did not.
After the school board meeting, Tiede said she did not have a scripted speech for the graduation ceremony and spoke to those students no different than she does anyone she encounters in her daily life.
"That's just the way I talk to everyone," she said.
While one email letter of complaint was received and acknowledged by the school board at the meeting, Tiede said she has received hundreds of positive responses from people in response to any backlash she has encountered in the past week.
