The Greater St. Albert Catholic school board held its organizational meeting last week where returning trustees and one newly elected trustee took the oath of office. This was followed by elections for the new board chair and vice-chair for the 2010-11 school year.
Lauri-Ann Turnbull was named board chair while Rosaleen McEvoy will take on the role of vice-chair.
“It’s a privilege to have served as board chair,” said outgoing chair Dave Caron.
“We are blessed with a dedicated group of trustees who are passionate about education and all the work that is being done in Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools to ensure that our students receive a high quality education,” he said.
Turnbull said she was honoured to have been selected by her peers after receiving such a strong vote of confidence from the public.
She also welcomed new trustee Noreen Radford and said that the board was looking forward to her input and perspective.
The St. Albert Protestant school board also held its organizational meeting last week, where trustees selected Joan Trettler as chair and Gerry Martins as vice-chair.
Previously, Trettler served as chair for one year at the beginning of the last three-year term. Martins was first elected in 2004 and served as vice-chair for the 2007-08 school year and as chair in 2008-09.
“I like being able to provide leadership and to speak on behalf of the board,” said Trettler.
“The main thing for us is we all work together. We’re still just one voice.”
Looking ahead, Trettler said a new Alberta School Act will likely be the biggest issue on the board’s plate over the next three years.
“We’re hearing words like ‘transformational’ and we wonder what that means so we’re starting to get a sense of how the new School Act will be presented. We would like to make sure that we have some impact and that it’s in such a form that we’re actually able to move forward with it,” she noted.
While Trettler said school boards are unlikely to get a glimpse of the act before it’s tabled in the legislature next spring, she said there will be some preliminary information for the board to work with.
“I’m looking forward to this year,” she said.
“We have a new board and I think that we will work well together and move forward.”
Last week also saw Paul Dumont named chair of the local francophone school board while Laurent Bolduc was selected for the position of vice-chair. Karen Doucet was selected vice-chair of the district’s Catholic board.
