Trustee Tyler Campbell is stepping down from Rainbow District School Board after 13 years, the Rainbow District School Board has announced. He will attend his final school board meeting on Dec. 13.
Campbell came under fire this week when emails obtained through a freedom of information request showed he had contacted Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer, encouraging him to reach out to the Rainbow District School Board regarding a potential soccer turf at Lasalle Secondary School.
However, in a news release from the school board, Campbell says his job with the City of Greater Sudbury is taking up too much of his time to continue as a school board trustee.
“My position with the City of Greater Sudbury has placed more demands on my time. It also requires that I work with community partners in all sectors,” Campbell said in a press release. “For these reasons, I have made a decision to leave my role as trustee prior to the completion of my term.”
His resignation comes days after Campbell was accused of having a conflict of interest. This week, Sudbury.com reported on a Freedom of Information request made by concerned parent Chantelle Gorham, who, like many other parents of students in Rainbow Board schools, was worried accommodation reviews would lead to the closure of her child's school.
The documents that were released revealed Campbell had been communicating with elected officials about the potential for working with the Rainbow Board on building a soccer dome at a Rainbow school.
Not only is Campbell a Rainbow Board trustee, he is the city's director of leisure services.
Gorham has accused Campbell of having a conflict of interest regarding the proposed soccer turf and/or athletic dome at Lasalle Secondary School.
The Rainbow Board “has over 1 Million (sic) available to bring to the table,” Campbell said to city councillor Al Sizer in an email sent on July 28.
In a second email to Sizer on Aug. 5, 2016, Campbell said he had spoken with Norm Blaseg, the Rainbow District School Board's director of education, about a potential soccer turf at Lasalle Secondary School.
This week, Gorham said both Campbell and Blaseg should step down from their positions with the school board.
The Rainbow District School Board said Campbell declared a conflict of interest on the topic of a potential athletic dome, and has removed himself from all school board conversations on the issue. His emails on the topic were through his role as a city employee, not as a trustee.
The news release from the school board includes comments from both board chair Doreen Dewar and director of education Norm Blaseg, both of whom praised Campbell for his work with the Rainbow Board.
“(Tyler Campbell) has made an immense contribution to the young people in our area,” Dewar said in a press release.
Blaseg called Campbell “a great advocate for children.”
Campbell became a trustee in 2003, serving as chair for two terms.
