School District 57's trustees have one more election to get through before they move to the business of running the school board.
Tonight's inaugural meeting will see a reshuffle of leadership as past chair Sharel Warrington, who has held the position for the past three terms, steps down.
"It's time now for someone else to take the helm and I'm quite confident that we'll have an extremely strong board," Warrington said. "I'm very comfortable with my decision. I'm looking forward to sitting as a trustee where I can voice my opinions."
Neither third-term trustee Trish Bella nor trustee second-term Brenda Hooker said they were interested in the job.
"I would like to be able to participate more in debate discussions and the motions," said Bella. "The role of chair is you're removed a bit out of that."
Tim Bennett, also in his second term, said he would step forward if nominated.
"I think we might have an election, which is always good," said Bella. "There are a few people who have indicated they would be interested [in chair]."
It means one of the newly elected trustees Tony Cable, Bruce Wiebe or Bob Harris could vye to lead the seven-member board.
The board convenes again Tuesday for its inaugural meeting after a full weekend at the BC School Trustees Association Trustee Academy in Vancouver.
Cable said it was a valuable learning experience.
"There were a number of sessions where we sat as a school district group with all seven trustees and the superintendent and the secretary and treasurer and I found that to be very useful," said Cable, who said he'd consider either chair or vice-chair if nominated.
Bennett said it was the first time the group was in the same room together when they weren't at an all-candidates forum.
"It was pretty evident that our students and our staff are the main priority," he said of the group's discussions. "It is such a diverse team. I think everyone's eager and wanting to get the work started."
The weekend also led to a Memorandum of Understanding between the provincial trustee group and the Ministry of Education on what the government dubbed a "co-operative path forward."
"It talks about how we're in a co-governance relationship with Ministry for delivering public education and it lays out certain principles that the parties will adhere to and that it'll be reviewed annually," said Hooker, noting the agreement expires in four years and is considered a fluid document open to amendment.
Hooker said the model has been the subject of some controversy among school boards.
"It creates a perception that we're an arm of the government rather than an advocacy group for education, that we're too closely linked with the government," she said.
"There's concern about how that may be perceived by our partner groups," said Hooker, who said she'd like the position of vice-chair, also to be voted in on Tuesday. "We're meant to be the public voice in public education, but I think that having agreements with our partners and the Ministry, we need to be in a truly collaborative relationship."
Hooker noted a draft agreement was circulated during election, causing some boards to criticize the timing of the consultation.
Part of the commitment included better communication, said Bella, given boards often learned of developments during the teacher's strike through the media.
Warrington said she'd reserve comment on co-governance until the board has a chance to discuss the issue, but said she expects it'll be on an upcoming agenda.
