Chilliwack school trustee censured after saying ‘children belong to their parents’

A Chilliwack School District trustee has been censured over comments made during a meeting earlier in the week.

During Monday’s meeting, Heather Maahs made remarks while discussing sex education in schools and how parents can provide input on the curriculum.

“What we’ve done is thrown a couple of obstacles at parents in order to make it just a little harder for them to be able to find the process if there is material that they find objectionable,” she said.

“The children belong to their parents, it’s their right.”

The comment drew an audible gasp from board chair Willow Reichelt, who apologized shortly after.

On Friday, the Chilliwack School District announced that Maahs had been censured after breaching its Code of Conduct, following an in-camera vote on Thursday.

“Trustees have an obligation to carry out their duties faithfully, diligently, and in a manner that will inspire public confidence in the ability and integrity of the board,” a statement said.

“Trustee Maahs did not uphold these responsibilities in her support of a campaign against staff-selected learning resources in the district, and in her opposition to a student-led event.”

The board did not say how the censure will affect Maahs’ participation moving forward.

It’s not the first time the trustee has been at the center of controversy with the board. Maahs has not aligned with other members on issues like sex education and library books with 2SLGBTQ+ themes.

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• Chilliwack elects first transgender man to school board, ‘sense of relief’ for local community

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During last October’s municipal elections, five of the seven school board trustees elected in Chilliwack were open in their progressive views of 2SLGBTQ+ topics, including Teri Westerby, who is believed to be the first openly transgender man in Canada elected to public office.

The election results were said to have given a “sense of relief” for the local 2SLGBTQ+ community after previous board member, Barry Neufeld, was mired in controversy over homophobic comments.