While ballots will still be cast, the November 2018 school board elections could look very different from previous votes.
The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District is about to embark on a review process of the composition and electoral boundaries of an elected school board.
Possible changes to the board were recommended in a report created to deal with dysfunction among the previously elected school board, which was dismissed by the government in June 2016.
The previous school board was composed of nine trustees each representing a geographical area of the region from Armstrong to the North Shuswap. Due to the population within the area, Salmon Arm and Armstrong were represented by two trustees, while other rural areas had one trustee each.
The vast majority of school boards in the province are composed of five or seven trustees.
In the years before the board’s dismissal, there had been concerns about inequity in the system. For example, the trustee for the North Shuswap only represented a single school. There had been previous attempts made by the school board to address the issue and a number of reports were written coming up with different options for re-drawing electoral boundaries and the number of trustees. But no motions were ever passed.
Now, Mike McKay, the official trustee, is bringing the issue back for review in preparation for the next election.
In a meeting with education partner groups, various options for reducing the number of trustees and re-drawing the electoral boundaries will be considered.
“Thing are in progress, but there is work to be done and we are going to have to move pretty quickly.”
McKay says they will be drawing on previous research and coming up with some options. There will be opportunities for public feedback before the trustee votes on a recommendation. This would then be forwarded to the B.C. government because all electoral changes have to be approved by the province before being enacted.
“I’d like to see this early in the new year,” says McKay. “It’s only fair for people to know where things stand.”
