LAKELAND - Three of the wards for the Northern Lights Public School Board have enough trustee candidates to hold elections.
Voters in Ward 1 (Bonnyville and Area), Ward 4 (Lac La Biche – Plamondon) and Ward 3 (Lac La Biche) will go to the polls on Oct. 18.
Nominations for most trustee candidates province-wide closed Sept. 20, but the school division had to extend the nomination period for Ward 3 for three subsequent days because no one put their name forward.
On Sept. 23, the school division announced three candidates had put their names forward for the single trustee position for Ward 3: Chris Newhook, Lois Phillips and Walter Ryl.
Ward 1 will see six candidates vying for three trustee positions: Chad Colbourne, Cheryl Edwards, Lorne Kaban, Garry Kissel, Roy Ripkens and Michael Topylki.
Ward 4 will see three candidates race for one trustee position: Stephanida Gostevskyh, Sandra Makokis and Blair Norton.
Debra Lozinski has been acclaimed to another term as trustee for Ward 5 (Lac La Biche South). Incumbents Karen Packard, Mandi Skogen and Ron Young have been acclaimed to Ward 2 (Cold Lake).
Lozinski said she's pleased to be able to continue working to help students succeed.
Though it took several extra days for Ward 3 to receive nominations, she said this year's election is actually an improvement over the last two elections.
“This time around, there's been more interest – the last election, in fact, all nine of us were acclaimed,” she said. “The one before that, there was only one election out of nine.”
Young, who was a teacher for 35 years within the school division up until 2014, told Lakeland This Week acclamations are disappointing, but they aren't surprising since school boards do a lot of business in closed sessions.
He said he's planning to take a different approach this year, encouraging more debate and questions to be asked in public session.
“I've kind of taken a vow that this next term, I'm going to be a little bit more of a shit-disturber, because by asking those questions in public, it's going to ruffle feathers,” he said.
“And maybe, if we start asking some of these tough questions of administration and of ourselves in the public section of the agenda... it will get more people interested in sitting on the school board.”
He also wants to see the school division take the lead on issues impacting teachers and students, instead of following organizations like the Alberta School Board Association.
“There was a time when Northern Lights was one of the most innovative school districts in the province... I was a part of that for many years,” he said.
He sees issues like pandemic response and particularly mental health supports for teachers as ones the division needs to tackle seriously in the coming years.
Regarding her acclamation, Packard said she's honoured to have another term as trustee, noting she's seen valuable engagement from parents and community members especially in the last couple years on issues such as the draft curriculum and changes to the configuration of Cold Lake's schools.
“Although Wards 2 and 5 saw no new candidates chose to put their names forward for this election, I am confident that the committed parents and community members will continue to contribute and help guide the Board of Trustees in decision making,” she said.
Skogen said she's excited to be back on the board for a third term, and she was happy to see people put their names forward this year, though she'd like to see more engagement with school board elections.
"I wish that people in the area would understand that trusteeships hold a great importance as well," she said – there's tough decisions trustees have to make, especially when budget cuts happen, and the pandemic has created a whole new level of hardship for school boards, teachers and attendees, but it's a fulfilling job as well.
"The benefit of it is, we're having a voice for the students, for the parents, trying to get what they want into the boardroom."
Skogen said she's expecting a tough start to this term, due to COVID-19, but she's looking forward to the day she's able to visit schools and students again normally.
