Robert Bratvold loves a good election.
The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division education director said the board is doing everything it can to engage the public ahead of this year’s vote, which will see a new board chosen come November.
A committee to deal with that, and one to address ongoing transportation concerns, was officially formed at the board’s meeting on Monday, May 4.
“I mean elections happen every four years. I get pumped about elections. I am big into the democratic process,” Bratvold said.
The board put together a group of current trustees to plan for a candidate’s package.
“We will prepare some information about what it means to be a school board member and all of the value they bring to the community and the work that they do,” he explained.
The committee will also look at how to promote engagement in school board elections from the public. This will make sure the public knows that the election on November 7 is happening and the importance of the local governance that boards do. They will also do some promotional work to parents, community members and other stakeholders can learn about and be inspired by the election process.
They also plan to develop orientation materials for the incoming board chosen in the 2020 elections. They already have transition plans, but this will expand on these.
Bratvold noted that he has worked with some outstanding trustees over his years at Saskatchewan Rivers but sometimes the transition is not simple.
“It’s surprising how some of them come with great skillsets, abilities and drive but not a lot of information about what a school board does and how it works. So it is really important to have that orientation as an ongoing process,” Bratvold said.
The Transportation Committee will deal with concerns around transportation processes and concerns that have emerged in the division.
“It is more localized on a couple of concerns. But trustees just thought that it would be a good idea to have a committee to spend some time working with the administration to understand them more thoroughly and work on some ideas or possible solutions.”
