The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George is adding its voice to the call for rural representation at the school board table.
"We would strongly encourage School District No. 57 to consider implementing a structure that provides, at minimum, for the election of a trustee to represent Mackenzie and a trustee to represent the Robson Valley," wrote chair Art Kaehn, in an Oct. 5 letter.
That came following a July letter from Mackenzie Mayor Pat Crook asking trustees to make good on support for the idea expressed among most candidates in his community.
"We just need a voice for rural areas," said Crook, who was disappointed with the board's written response that it "remains committed to ensuring that all seven trustees represent the interests of the District of Mackenzie and its citizens."
That wasn't a no to a ward system, said chairperson Tony Cable; it just means the board has plenty of time to make a decision before the next election.
"We wrote a letter that basically stated that we hadn't really decided either way," Cable explained.
"The board doesn't feel we have a real urgency to make a decision because it's three years off," said Cable, adding the board plans to meet with the communities.
But Crook would like to see more of a commitment.
"I thought it was an election promise myself, in Mackenzie. I was surprised that they didn't start the process rolling," said Crook, adding when the issue was brought up before the last election, he was told there wasn't enough time.
"This way we can give them time to get the process rolling hopefully they come about with a different position."
Rural representation isn't a unique idea, he said.
"It's implemented in other parts of the province," said Crook, who was backed by research from the regional district that showed nearly half of districts have something in place to accommodate that voice.
"This is achieved in numerous forms," wrote Kaehn of 28 districts, compared to 32 that don't have regional representation. "Some districts utilize the political boundaries of their regional district and have a mix of trustees that represent specific municipalities and others who represent one or more of a region's electoral areas.
Some districts divide their region into community areas and elect one or more trustees from each area."
Last year more than a 1,000 students went to school outside Prince George's boundary, Kaehn noted, including 571 students in Mackenzie, 192 students in McBride and 192 in Valemount.
At the October meeting the board set up a rural sub-committee, chaired by trustee Bob Harris, which will reprot to the management and finance committee.
Harris said he expects the first meeting to take place in mid-November, and will include principals from Mackenzie, McBride and Valemount
Harris said they will cover "successful education practices that are already ongoing, some of the challenges of rural education programming at all levels, (and) issues of particular concern to rural secondary schools."
Last year, the board gave $75,000 of one-time funding to each of the rural secondary schools.
"The real question is can we find some way of sustaining programs and services in rural communities," Harris said. "Realistically they'd like to plan on a much longer timeline."
The issue of rural representation is likely outside of the committee's mandate, he said.
Harris said he'd welcome interested candidates from rural districts, but as far as creating a designated position, that's something for the board to discuss more in the future.
"We have some time yet," he said.
