With one whack of his gavel, Lyn Hall ended his 10-year term as a school board trustee.
Tuesday's public meeting at the School District 57 office marked Hall's final duty as school board chair as he prepares for the start of his new political career as a city councillor.
"We've gone through some hellish times in the district, but there have been some very good times and I'm going to miss it a lot," said Hall, who first joined the board as a trustee in 2001.
"This is a tough, tough job and this group has worked very hard through some very tough times. During that period of school closures, the commitment of this group behind the scenes to do their homework and make sure they were prepared was second to none."
Hall, the highest vote-getter among city councillors in Saturday's election, advises trustees to visit the schools and meet with partner groups, teachers and parents so they become familiar with the issues at each school.
While trustees are called upon to make some huge decisions that affect our schools, they aren't acting alone, and Hall strongly suggests the new board lean on the resources and expertise of district staff.
"I think some of the challenges the new board will face are the declining enrolment piece, class size and class composition, and transportation issues," said Hall. "They've got a plateful issues they will have to deal with and it's important that they use our administration. This is the best-run administration team in the province and you don't function as board without it."
The district now faces a $575,000 shortfall in the budget for student bussing and Hall says that will be up the trustees to provide a solution.
"The way the board will have to deal with that is whether they think they can reduce that transportation budget by that amount of money," he said. "This board and boards before this chose to continue with this level of bussing, so they will have to make that determination themselves."
Hall is one of five trustees who have now left the board. Incumbents Crawford Valentine and Rhonda White were defeated in Saturday's municipal election, while Lois Boone and Roxanne Ricard chose not to run for re-election.
That leaves vice-chair Trish Bella and trustee Sharel Warrington as the only ties to the previous board. They were elected to new three-year terms along with Tim Bennett, Brenda Hooker, Sharon Bourassa, Betty Bekkering and Kate Cooke. The new board will be sworn in at the next public meeting Dec. 6.
Boone also served 10 years as a trustee, having first been elected in 1981. She served on the board until 1985, then began a 14-year career in provincial politics as an MLA. She returned as a trustee in 2005. The reality of having to close schools during her most recent term made it the most difficult of her three-term tenure.
"This has been a tough three years but the board pulled together and made tough decisions and we're now beginning to see the light," said Boone. "I don't know if anybody really understands just how difficult it is when you're faced with hard decisions of whether you close a school.
"I don't know how the new board will deal with classroom composition. We've been struggling with it for six years now and haven't gotten anywhere because there has been no increase in the dollars necessary to assist us in the classrooms."
Boone is looking forward to being an average citizen again, spending more time with her grandchildren now that her daughter has moved back to the city with her young family.
"My advice to the new board is to utilize the senior [administration] team and listen to them and keep an open atmosphere so they feel they can come to you with ideas and criticisms as well," said Boone. "Also listen to the other partner groups and work with all our partners in order to do what's best for kids.
"Parents should stay involved in their children's school life and know what's going on in the schools. They should be aware of the learning agenda and work wherever they can to assist the schools."
