School board trustees seeking election come Oct. 26

When voters head to the polls in October, they’ll not only be electing a city council but also school board trustees.

The Northwest School Division (NWSD) is governed by 11 trustees, including the board chair, who set policy and direction for the school division. Director of Education, Duane Hauk said trustees are also responsible for providing opportunity for every student to be successful.

“Trustees are representatives of the communities, they provide the opportunity to have voice for all constituents throughout the school division which differs from superintendents, principals, and teachers… those are all staff of the school division,” Hauk said.

Trustees are elected based on the area they live in.

In Division One, incumbent Mark Campbell will be the acclaimed candidate after Juanita Friesen withdrew her nomination papers on Sept. 21.

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Divisions two, three, five, and six candidates are acclaimed. Running un-opposed is Mark Campbell, Terri Prete, Brian Gaboury, Janice Baillargeon and John Anderson.

Division eight has two representatives on the ballot, Faith Graham and Tamara Smith.

Division nine and ten, Meadow Lake’s area, is the busiest with incumbents Barb Seymour and Doug Murray (who also serves as the board chair) seeking re-election against Glen Winkler and Dustin Treptow.

Division 11 has incumbent Jessica Piche going up against Patrick Derocher.

Division four and seven didn’t receive any nominations. Communications co-ordinator Kaitlin Harman said a second call for nominations is ongoing and runs until Oct. 5.

Trustees will meet once a month for board meetings and occasionally for special meetings such as their Annual General Meeting.

“Trustees are the people who represent you with looking at what’s best for our students,” Hauk said. “I think our board members do an excellent job and we’d like to continue to have people getting out to vote, making sure we have that representation.”

The trustee position isn’t volunteer.

Chief financial officer Charlie McCloud said roughly $460,000 is the trustee budget for 2016-17. The total covers the Saskatchewan School Board Association’s membership and fees, along with legal services, administration of employee benefits, human resource services, funding for all school community councils and more. McCloud added the $460,000 is roughly one per cent of the budget.

Salary wise, of the $460,000, the 11 trustees receive a share of roughly $107,000 for pay, travel expenses and professional development workshops and seminars.

The costs are covered through two entities, an operating grant from the Ministry of Education and from a portion of property taxes all residents pay.

Voters cast their ballots for trustees locations determined by where they live, exactly like a civic election.

Meadow Lake residents vote at the civic centre on Oct. 26.

Editor’s Note: This story was edited to clarify budget-related information and to remove Juanita Friesen from the division one candidates list as she withdrew her name.

-This story was edited again at 6:05 p.m. Sept. 27, 2016 to correct the voting location.

Colton Swiderski is meadowlakeNOW’s municipal affairs, crime and court, health and education reporter. He can be reached at cswiderski@jpbg.ca or tweet him @coltonswiderski.