Helping six new school trustees get up to speed on School District 43 operations and dealing with debt are on the agenda for new board of education chair Judy Shirra.
The Port Coquitlam trustee said she is looking forward to working with the new trustees who have energy and enthusiasm for advocating for improved education funding but acknowledged that "a lot of learning" must now take place.
"We're trying to give them really good information so they can make good decisions later on," Shirra told The Tri-City News.
"We've got some people that are not jaded. They have a lot of energy. I'm excited about that," said Shirra, who has been on the board for several terms, having been first elected to the board for 1993 to ' 96, was re-elected for '99 to '02 and again in 2008, 2011 and 2014.
At left, new vice chair Kerri Palmer Isaak
She ran unopposed for the chair's position, which is a one-year appointment, and replaces outgoing trustee Melissa Hyndes, who was previously board chair for eight years but was not reelected in Port Moody. New Anmore/Belcarra trustee Kerri Palmer Isaak is vice-chair of the nine-member board, also having run unopposed.
Also facing SD43 is a decision on how to cover $800,000 in salaries for teachers who returned to school to set up classes on the Friday after a lengthy strike. The province has said it won't reimburse the funds because the day's pay wasn't covered by the teachers' collective agreement even though it promised all teachers would be paid for that day.
She said finding money to cover the cost will be difficult because the district is already grappling with the fallout from last year's cuts to balance the budget, such as a loss of library time and counsellors.
But she said it's important to keep advocating for more funding because of continued cost pressures and is glad to have new blood.
