School District 57's Board of Education will soon have a new chair at the helm.
Tim Bennett said Tuesday he will be stepping down from the role effective the board's Nov. 3 meeting while remaining on the board as a trustee. Trustees will select a replacement at that time.
"After four years as chair and four years as vice, I feel like it's time to pass the baton on so to speak and serve the district as a trustee," he said in an interview after making his intention known on social media.
Bennett said stepping down will allow him to better concentrate on his duties as a trustee. The chair is responsible for running the meetings and he said that can pose some limits when he wants to make a point known.
"Your job is to facilitate dialogue, you're the last one to enter debate, your job is to ensure that the ruled of order are being followed and your voice is really the voice of the board," he said. "So I'm also looking forward to an opportunity to sit as a trustee and to use my voice more at the table because that was what I was elected to do."
Bennett said he has also become busier on other fronts in the time he has been chair. He is now the father of three boys while Prince George Big Brothers Big Sisters, of which he is the executive director, has expanded, and he is now a director on the B.C. School Trustees Association.
Finding a replacement should not be a problem, according to Bennett.
"Part of the reason for the timing is we have a lot of great trustees on the board," he said.
