Voters across the province are set to cast ballots in Alberta’s Municipal Election on Monday, October 16, 2017.
Included on the ballots are the local school boards, which traditionally have a lower voter turnout.
PRSD Superintendent Paul Bennett. (Photo/Peace River Record-Gazette)
Peace River School Division (PRSD) Superintendent Paul Bennett says casting ballots for your local school trustee is very important.
“School Board Trustees have responsibilities in lots of different areas,” Bennett told the Trending 55 Newsroom. “They include setting school division goals, which ensure students have the knowledge and goals to be better prepared for life. They also plan lots of priorities based on provincial curriculum requirements and community input.”
Bennett adds that the trustees help plan for the future of our province.
“(The trustees) are very involved in developing and implementing an annual budget for the school division based on strategic priorities,” he continued. “Another area they have direct involvement in is developing policies in order to guide the school division.”
Four out of seven wards in PRSD have a race going on, with Wards Two, Three, Five and Seven having two candidates each.
HPSD Board Chairperson Tammy Henkel. (Photo/HPSD)
As well, over in the High Prairie School Division (HPSD), only Ward One is acclaimed, while Wards Two, Three and Four each has a race going on.
HPSD Board Chairperson Tammy Henkel, who is again running for one of two positions in Ward Two, says she’s pleased to see such a strong turnout of candidates running this time around.
“It’s actually really exciting,” said Henkel. “Any time that you get people running for any position, whether it’s for councillor or for school board trustee, that shows a level of commitment to the community that you live in.”
Henkel says that the next HPSD School Board needs to look beyond what’s happening in the present.
“We have to look at the long-term future for education within our community,” she said. “There’s still some significant struggles in rural Alberta in terms of education, and we need to ensure that we are very vocal in supporting education in rural communities, and that our students have the same opportunities that their counterparts have in major urban centres.”
A list of candidates running in the various school boards in the Peace and Mackenzie regions can be found by clicking here.
– Posted by BET
