By Sarah Rae

Public school board ready to tackle new term

Nov 10, 2016 | 6:28 AM

The Living Sky School Division is moving forward post-election ready to tackle the upcoming school year.

New chair Ronna Pethick said at a regular board meeting Wednesday, Nov. 9, she looks forward to working with the new trustees, as it’s always good to have new voices in the mix.

“Trustees bring varied interests and knowledge to a board of education and change is always positive,” she said. “I look forward to working with these new trustees because they will bring a fresh set of eyes and new ideas and a new perspective.”

Along with Pethick, the board chose Kim Gartner as vice-chair. Pethick said it’s an honour to be chosen and she’s fortunate to have last term’s chair, Arsenault, still on the board to guide her.

She said one concern for the board moving forward will be the budget, as the division is operating on a deficit and taking from reserves, which is not sustainable. She said another focus of school boards across the province this term will be amalgamations.

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“The minister of education and the premier have talked about transformational change in our province and have hinted at amalgamations and that is something that our board, because we’ve gone through amalgamations, are very concerned about and that’s something that will be coming up very shortly,” she said.

Pethick is also running for president of the Saskatchewan School Board Association. Having served as the central constituencies’ representative and vice president, she said she’s ready to step up as president.

She said she has a strong voice and open mind, and her commitment to students and passion for education will make her a great president.

Tracie Heintz and Glen Leask join the board along with incumbents Pethick, Gartner, Ken Arsenault, Ron Kowalchuk, Todd Miller, Richard Hiebert, Garth Link and Glenn Wouters.

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.