The October 24 trustee election will bring change to local residents in the Seine River and Hanover School Divisions.
In Hanover’s Ward 1, which includes the communities Niverville, New Bothwell, Kleefeld, and Crystal Springs, Shannon Friesen was re-elected. Carisa Klassen also won a position on board and will take over the seat vacated by outgoing trustee Ruby Wiens.
In Seine River’s Ward 1, an area that encompasses St. Adolphe, Île-des-Chênes, Grande Pointe, and Lorette, two trustees were re-elected, Jessalyn Cahill and Christine Roskos. Newcomer Vicky Kiansky will join them, adding a new voice to the board.
Election Day
“I spent election day organizing some things at home before I headed to each Ward 1 polling station, spending the last few hours before the polls closed at Niverville Collegiate,” says Shannon Friesen. “It was nice seeing familiar and new faces throughout the day, which took my mind off the actual election and helped calm the nerves.”
Carisa Klassen says she tried her best to go about her day as though it were no different than any other. “Then we walked into the polling station in the afternoon and there were people there that I knew were supporting me,” Klassen says. “That support is energizing, and that is when this whole process felt real and alive to me.”
“I was nervous!” says Jessalyn Cahill. “I brought my one-and-half-year-old daughter with me to vote… I messaged some people reminding them to vote. Other than that I spent the day much like any other day, except with a few more butterflies in my stomach.”
As for Christine Roskos, she started her day by voting early—and then she went to work as usual. “I also attended a PAC meeting at Ecole Île-des-Chênes and had some kids activities to attend to in the evening, so I kept busy and didn’t have much time to think about being nervous.”
Vicky Kiansky says she spent the day at work, feeling both excited and nervous about the election results. “When I found out, I was super excited to realize I had been elected and share the news with family and friends, especially all those who had helped out. I was with my husband at home waiting to hear the late results around 10:30 p.m.”
“I was at Hespelers with friends,” adds Klassen of how she spent her evening. “We were hitting refresh on the HSD website from the moment the polls closed. It was as nerve-wracking as booking a summer campsite.”
“I had an overwhelming sense of joy and relief when I realized I would be one of the elected trustees,” she says about learning of the final vote tallies. “After I knew the final numbers from the polling stations in Niverville, I went home to be with my family, with whom I couldn’t have done this without.”
Roskos says that she was in a similar state of mind. “My reaction when I received the results was definitely excitement and elation. My husband and kids were happy for me as well and it was awesome to hear from friends and family throughout the evening with messages of congratulations and support.”
The Next Four Years
The coming four-year term is bound to bring a host of challenges, both new and old.
“A big challenge facing all of the school boards across the province over the next few years will be to work with our government to stress the importance of keeping decision-making for our kids’ education at a local level,” says Roskos. “And community engagement plays an important role in this process. I look forward to continue to build upon the many positive things that our division is working on to achieve success in our board priorities—improving literacy and numeracy, expanding our arts programs, enriching early childhood education, and enhancing our students’ emotional, cognitive, physical, and social well-being.”
Cahill points to one of her biggest priorities: Seine River’s growing enrolment and the full buildings and buses throughout the division. “I think the board will be up to tackle the challenges we will face in the next four years. I really look forward to working with the new trustees and the incumbents.”
Friesen foresees some big changes to school divisions throughout the province, specifically in the area of amalgamations.
“During this next term, I think that we could see some school boards being amalgamated, as it is something our provincial government has mentioned, stating that they will be conducting a consultation process in 2019,” Friesen says. “It will be interesting to see what will come from that. I also think boards will be facing funding challenges in the future. There always seem to be cuts in provincial funding, and yet the needs within the schools are rising and there are always more challenges and demands placed on the educator and schools.”
Friesen also believes a key role for all trustees will be advocating for more classroom space and new buildings, which always seem to be in short supply.
The trustees will be sworn in shortly, with both school boards holding their next meetings on November 6. Kiansky notes that she will be attending an orientation session on Tuesday, October 30.
