Censured Winnipeg School Division trustee accused of bullying

The Winnipeg School Division's board of trustees is embroiled in a public spat with one of its veteran trustees, Mike Babinsky, after he was formally censured for forwarding one of his fellow trustees' emails to the media.

Babinsky, the trustee for Ward 8, claims the email in question, which came from Ward 4 trustee Lisa Naylor, was not confidential.

"I'm more disappointed in the reaction that the board has taken in regards to the transparency issue," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

But Naylor, who said she had been a trustee for only four days when Babinksy released her email to the media, believes she was bullied.

"I felt that, you know, as much as it would have been easier to just kind of look the other way and let this go, that as a role model for my daughter and for other students in the division, I thought it was really important to show that I won't be bullied," she said.

Babinsky said the email in question outlined ongoing transportation problems within the school division, with details about how some students were affected by late school bus arrivals last winter.

He added that he has sent the email to Manitoba's education minister.

Trustee gets a warning for now

The board voted to censure Babinsky at its meeting on Monday evening.

Board chair Mark Wasyliw says Babinsky is getting a warning for now, but he could face penalties if more incidents happen.

"Under the Public Schools Act, this is the first step. This is where you get a warning," Wasyliw told Marilyn Maki of CBC's Radio Noon.

"If you transgress again, then there's further sanctions where you can get suspended from meetings or even suspended from the board for three months or ultimately removed."

Wasyliw added that this is Babinksy's third formal censure in the trustee's 20-year career and only the first under the current board.

According to Wasyliw, Babinksy had contacted a member of the media and sent along the email, which he said was "from an internal discussion among the nine of us" and was not meant to be made public.

"Trustee Babinsky released it to the media in order to, I guess, make a political point, and this obviously made the trustees exceptionally upset," Wasyliw said.

"Six out of nine of our trustees are brand new, and we're surprised that their trust would be violated like this … the actions they viewed were very disrespectful to one another."

No doubt email was confidential, says board chair

Wasyliw said contrary to Babinsky's claim, there is no doubt that the email in question was confidential.

"He's probably one of the most experienced trustees in the province. He's been at the job for 20 years," Wasyliw said of Babinsky.

"If his experience wasn't a guide, at the bottom of the email is one of those big sort of warning boxes saying that, you know, 'The contents of this email [are] confidential and is not meant to be read by anyone other than … [the recipient] designated by the sender.' So I don't think there was any doubt that this was a confidential email."

Naylor said she believes she can work with Babinsky, but she added that he must follow the trustee code of conduct.

Wasyliw said the board is not not out to punish or embarrass Babinsky publicly, but his concern as a school trustee is getting everyone on the board to work together.

"If you have a toxic board, if you have people that are fighting or don't trust anyone, the personalities get in the way of doing the public's business and that doesn't help anyone," he said.

But in an email sent to all media outlets on Tuesday afternoon, Babinsky called on Wasyliw to explain why he has gone public about the motion to censure him, the details of which had been discussed behind closed doors the night before.

"Who picks and chooses what we can be transparent about?" Babinsky wrote.