All back on board
School board business has taken a back seat to the civic election and teachers’ job action but Tri-City trustees will soon start tackling some important issues in the next few months, promised board chair Melissa Hyndes.
Every incumbent trustee was either acclaimed or re-elected on Saturday, so Hyndes familiar faces around the table. But she said an experienced board will make it easier to finish work on the district’s new Learning Without Boundaries plan and start work on next year’s budget.
“We are a very good working board, we know where we all stand and we leave our politics at the door when we sit at the table,” said the Port Moody trustee, who was acclaimed along with Keith Watkins.
With senior administrators required to due playground duty in addition to their regular jobs, the board agenda has been rather light since the summer, Hyndes admitted. But she’s concerned about the long-term impact of the teachers’ job action if a contract isn’t settled soon.
“It’s stalling work we want to move forward on,” Hyndes said, noting work is still proceeding on new schools for Centennial secondary, James Park elementary (which is already under construction) and Pitt River middle, and a new middle school is expected to go before Anmore council soon.
Work is also going on behind the scenes for the district’s new Learning Without Boundaries plan, which will determine how the district will use technology to create more choice and flexibility in education.
“It’s really exciting,” she said. “It’s about where we are going and what we’re going to do for the next five to 10 years.”
dstrandberg@tricitynews.com
THE RESULTS
A bullet [•] denotes incumbent):
COQUITLAM
• Diane Sowden — 12,116
• Brian Robinson — 11,491
• Gerri Wallis — 10,896
• Gail Alty — 10,000
Humera Ahsanullah — 4,550
PORT COQUITLAM
• Judy Shirra — 5,042
• John Keryluk — 4,262
Bob Lee — 3,714
(Port Moody and viLLAGE incumbents were acclaimed.)
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