
Derrick Long (Photo from BWDSB website)
The Bluewater District School Board confirmed sanctions and censured the trustee for Brockton & South Bruce, again, over code of conduct breaches.
Board trustees voted Tuesday to proceed with censuring Derrick Long, as well as barring him from the June 17 regular board meeting and from sitting on all board committees from June 1 to Oct. 30, 2025.
Long will also be removed from the board’s audit committee for the remainder of the 2024-25 term.
Last month, the board approved sanctions after reviewing an integrity commissioner’s report prepared by Michael Maynard of ADR Chambers. He concluded Long tried to access his board email several times last year from outside the country, a violation of Bluewater District School Board policy.
“Had he simply attempt to access his board emails once, perhaps momentarily forgetting that this is prohibited, and found that he was geo-blocked, then moved on without making further attempts, this whole situation would be a non-issue. The system would have worked as it ought to have,” Maynard says in his report. “Instead, the evidence demonstrates that Trustee Long made numerous failed attempts to access his email, then used a VPN to get around the geolocation blocking on the board’s server. These actions potentially imperilled the security of the board’s information technology and breached operational policy.”
Bluewater District School Board trustees reviewed Maynard’s report during their meeting April 15 and decided on censure and several sanctions. Long was given until May 9 to respond and trustees were told during their May 20 meeting he made no written submission.
The process required the school board to allow Long up to 14 days to respond, before meeting again to confirm, alter or revoke the sanctions.
It’s the second time Long has been censured and faced sanctions after being found to have breached the board’s code of conduct. In December 2024, the board resolved to censure him and bar him from sitting on board committees for 90 days after reviewing a previous integrity commissioner report detailing five complaints and numerous allegations against Long.
Trustees didn’t offer any comments in voting to confirm the latest sanctions during their meeting on Tuesday. But after the resolution, Board Chair Jane Thomson read a public censure statement, saying “it is disappointing to once again find ourselves in the unfortunate position of imposing sanctions on Trustee Long.”
“This latest situation speaks to a troubling pattern of reckless behaviour by Trustee Long and places the integrity and reputation of our board in a precarious position, while potentially eroding public trust in what we do as trustees,” Thomson says. “As elected representatives, trustees uphold an especially high standard as community leaders and role models for our public education system.”
Bayshore Broadcasting News contacted Long for comment, but hasn’t yet received a response.