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A UCP candidate is standing by allegations he made a few native college board mendacity to oldsters for political causes, regardless of calls from the varsity board to retract his assertion.
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Throughout an internet candidate discussion board hosted by the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce, Peter Guthrie, the UCP candidate for Airdrie-Cochrane, stated the administration of Rocky View faculties misled mother and father concerning the funding it acquired within the 2023 provincials. acquired funds.
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“Sadly, the Rocky View (Faculties) board and administration determined to play political video games and so they outright lied after they emailed all mother and father to inform them they did not obtain something within the funds,” Guthrie stated. stated. “And even after they have been referred to as out by our authorities and the Minister of Schooling, they refused to right the deception.”
That remark prompted a response from the Rocky View Faculties, which produced the letter in query and issued a launch demanding that Guthrie right and retract his statements. Guthrie additionally made the false accusation in a separate interview with the Airdrie Echo.
The letter in query, despatched to oldsters on March 9, expressed frustration that Rocky View Faculties didn’t obtain any building funding on this 12 months’s funds.
Nevertheless, the letter didn’t say the board acquired “nothing” within the funds, as Guthrie claimed.
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It went on to say that funding had been awarded for design and planning work, offering “future hope” that much-needed classroom house would finally be constructed.
The letter to oldsters additionally famous that the board requested the province present 32 modular lecture rooms to assist bridge the hole till everlasting options may very well be discovered. Guthrie has since identified that Rocky View faculties acquired 10 of 19 transportable units awarded by the province in 2023.
In a letter to Guthrie despatched Might 24 from Rocky View Faculties Board Chairwoman Norma Lang, the board referred to as on him to “withdraw and make clear” his statements that the board “outright lied” to oldsters “.
“Mr. Guthrie, the Board has been sincere, factual and in line with the knowledge now we have shared concerning the standing of our faculty capital plan requests,” Lang wrote.
The letter additionally emphasizes the significance of offering factual info to households to make sure confidence within the system.
“The Board believes that with a purpose to preserve the belief of our households, workers, college students and stakeholders, it is necessary that we offer clarification,” the letter reads.
Nevertheless, Guthrie stands by his accusations of lies and misinformation, regardless of the varsity board offering proof on the contrary by submitting his authentic letter.
When contacted, UCP workers referred Postmedia to a Fb submit Guthrie made Friday evening, doubling down on the false accusation and calling the unique March 9 letter “misinformation.”
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Guthrie supplied a duplicate of Lang’s letter calling for a retraction in his submit, however didn’t present a hyperlink to the unique March 9 letter.
“Now that the inaccuracies of the RVS communication have been proven, they need to settle for duty for the deceptive correspondence to oldsters,” Guthrie wrote in his submit.
He additionally stated boards “shouldn’t be targeted on political grandstanding, however as an alternative work collectively to resolve issues for the academic wants of scholars.”
When contacted on Saturday, a spokesperson for Rocky View Faculties stated board chair Lang was not out there for remark.
brthomas@postmedia.com
Twitter: @brodie_thomas