CALGARY—A labour group is demanding Calgary’s public school board enforce its policies after attendance records show a rookie trustee has skipped more than one-third of all board meetings since he was elected last fall.

The records, obtained by the Calgary and District Labour Council (CDLC) through a Freedom of Information request, show Mike Bradshaw missed 26 of 71 of meetings between Oct. 30, 2017 and June 12, 2018.

The document shows Bradshaw bowed out of committee and in-camera sessions, but attended all public board meetings.

Bradshaw was elected trustee in Wards 12 and 14 in last fall’s election. He was one of five candidates to run as part of the Students Count slate, which ran on a platform to make the Calgary Board of Education more transparent and accountable.

Three of the slate, Bradshaw, Althea Adams and Lisa Davis, won their respective ward races. Davis was under fire last month after she announced her intention to seek the United Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Bow — less than nine months after she was elected to office at the CBE.

Alex Shevalier, president of the CDLC, pointed to CBE board policies requiring trustees to be “adequately prepared” for meetings and to “exercise prudent personal discipline in the performance of their duties.”

“They have a member who is missing 37 per cent of the meetings, and, as far as I can tell, nothing was being done about it,” said Shevalier. “They’re simply accepting that one of their members was choosing not to participate fully.

“What’s the point of a policy if there is no enforcement?” said Shevalier.

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Bradshaw did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A spokesperson for the CBE said Bradshaw and board chair Trina Hurdman would not be available for interviews Tuesday.

CBE trustees are paid $45,000 a year, with Hurdman receiving an extra honorarium of $10,000 as chair, and vice-chair Marilyn Dennis an additional $5,000. Trustees are also eligible for an annual taxable transportation allowance of $4,200, and up to $2,000 for professional development.

Barbara Silva, communications director with the advocacy group Support Our Students Alberta, said school board trustees risk alienating voters if they aren’t willing to hold each other accountable.

“Part of the onus is on the CBE to uphold its policies and sanction trustees who don’t meet their obligations,” said Silva. “Part of the onus is on citizens to start electing people who they feel are there for the right reasons and the students.”

In 2013, the Alberta School Boards Association issued a report urging trustees to emphasize their role as local officials “elected by, and accountable to, their local communities.”

The relevancy of trustees has been questioned since the mid-1990s when the Alberta government stripped school boards of taxation authority.

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Silva criticized Bradshaw and his colleagues for remaining silent on his questionable attendance record.

“I know part of their governance is always to put the board of trustees in a united light,” said Silva. “But there is also an obligation to represent the students and the constituents.

“It’s not a way to instil faith in constituents that they’re being heard.”

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