Living Sky School Division has bid farewell to five departing trustees from its school board who are not running for re-election.
Trustees Garth Link and Glenn Wouters representing North Battleford, Todd Miller representing Wilkie, Tracie Heintz representing Kerrobert, and Ron Kowalchuk representing Hafford, are all leaving the board after this term — a turnover of half of the ten-person board.
At the end of Wednesday’s meeting — the last one of the term before the Nov. 9 election - the school division paid tribute to the five trustees with a farewell dinner. Normally this would have happened at a restaurant where spouses could also attend, but due to COVID-19 protocols it took place at the school division offices.
Link was not in attendance, but a presentation of awards and parting gifts was made to Wouters, Miller, Heintz and Kowalchuk at the end of the meeting. A tribute video was also shown in which school division staff said farewell to all five trustees.
For some of those trustees it marks an end to decades of public service. Wouters’ departure ends a long tenure of elected office that includes time in municipal politics in North Battleford and Metinota, where he was mayor. In Kowalchuk’s case, it ends an incredible 38 years as a school trustee, after being elected for the first time in 1982.
The loss of the five trustees will be felt, said director of education Brenda Vickers.
“It’s hard,” said Vickers in speaking to reporters. She noted some of those trustees drive hours to the division office to serve on the board.
“It’s just so wonderful to work with a group of people who really want to give their time to make a school division the best it can be. And you hope that people will stand up and let themselves be elected, and all those things, because the whole concept of community in education and local voice in education — it’s so much of what we believe is good about education.”
