2018 General School Trustee Election
This fall, province-wide elections will be held for local government representatives and school board trustees. Two officials have been appointed to conduct the election in our School District and they are:
| W.K. (Bill) Lindsay, Chief Election Officer H: (250) 783-5557 | Dori Alger, Deputy Chief Election Officer W: (250) 262-6009 E: dalger@prn.bc.ca |
Please contact them for information about the school trustee elections.
An orientation meeting for prospective candidates will be held at the School District office on Tuesday, August 28th at 7:00 PM.
School Trustees are elected for four-(4) year terms. A person is qualified to be nominated, elected and to hold office as a Board of Education Trustee if they meet the following criteria:
- a Canadian citizen;
- an individual who is, or will be on general voting day, age 18 or older;
- a resident of British Columbia for at least 6 months* immediately before the date of election or appointment; and
- not disqualified by the School Act or any other enactment from voting in an election in British Columbia or from being nominated for, elected to, or holding office as a trustee.
* must be a resident of BC before April 19th.
Key dates for this election are set out below:
| Election period | Monday, January 1, 2018 – Friday, September 21, 2018 |
| Nomination period – this is when nominations for trustee can be accepted. | Tuesday, September 4, 2018 – Friday, September 14, 2018 |
| Campaign period – this is when election campaigning takes place and related expenses during this time are recorded. | Saturday, September 22, 2018 – Saturday, October 20, 2018 |
| General Voting Day | Saturday, October 20, 2018 |
| Campaign financing disclosure statement filing deadline | Friday, January 18, 2019 |
| Campaign financing disclosure statement late filing deadline with $500 late filing fee | Tuesday, February 19, 2019 |
If you have never been a school trustee, you may be hesitant to put your name forward as a candidate. If elected, remember that you will not be acting alone and will be part of a board. Our Board of Education has a team of highly qualified individuals to provide guidance and to undertake research on projects and activities.
There is a British Columbia School Trustees Association (BCSTA) and its mission is to support and advocate for effective public boards of education in this province. The BCSTA’s will be hosting a Trustee Academy in Vancouver from November 20th to December 1st, 2018; and a New Trustee Academy in Vancouver from January 25th to 26th, 2019. Our School District is very committed to supporting its trustees to attend these learning events. In addition, plans are in the works for our School District to have a local one or two-day event on Governance.
The BCSTA has published A Guide for School Trustee Candidates and it can be downloaded by clicking on this link: http://bcsta.org/resources-and-services/trustee-elections-2018/
For answers to questions about board of education elections, please contact:
Ministry of Education
Legislation, Policy and Governance Branch
Telephone: (250) 387-8037
Email: educ.governance.legislation@gov.bc.ca
For answers to questions about election advertising, third party sponsors and campaign financing disclosure, please contact:
Elections BC
Telephone: (250) 387-5305
Toll-free: 1 (855) 952-0280 / TTY 1 (888) 456-5448
Fax: (250) 387-3578
Toll-free Fax: 1 (866) 466-0665
Email: lecf@elections.bc.ca
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has provided a webpage for local government elections – www.gov.bc.ca/localelections. Although the focus is on municipalities and regional districts, there is some overlap for school districts. Brochures are available at municipal and regional district offices and can be downloaded via the above-noted website.
Trustee Electoral Areas:
Seven trustees form our Board of Education representing five trustee electoral areas described and shown below:
- Area 1 – includes Cecil Lake, Goodlow and Clayhurst – one (1) trustee;
- Area 2 – includes Prespatou, Buick, Rose Prairie, Doig RiverFirst Nation, Blueberry River First Nation, North Pine, Montney and Wonowon (east) – one (1) trustee;
- Area 3 – includes the District of Hudson’s Hope, Upper Cache, Tsay Keh Dene Nation and Williston Lake – one (1) trustee;
- Area 4 – includes the District of Taylor, Baldonnel and Two Rivers – one (1) trustee; and
- Area 5 – includes the City of Fort St. John, the Upper Halfway, Halfway River First Nation, Wonowon (west), Charlie Lake, Pink Mountain and north to Mile 225 on the Alaska Highway – three (3) trustees.
A candidate for election as a school trustee does not have to live in one of the areas noted above; however, he or she must be nominated by two individuals who are qualified to be electors in the area for which the nomination documents apply.
Although each Trustee is elected as a representative from one of the five areas noted above, they operate as a Board which is committed to reaching and supporting group decisions. The Board establishes policies and enacts bylaws for the operation of schools and programs under its jurisdiction. There are usually two regularly scheduled meetings each month, but trustees are also appointed to committees and there may be additional meetings to conduct committee business. The following URL is a link for scheduled 2018 – 2019 meeting dates: http://district.prn.bc.ca/mod/resource/view.php?id=1521
School Trustees do not become involved in the specific operations of each school. Questions from parents or the public about such matters should be referred to the applicable Principal/Administrator or the Superintendent of Schools.
The Board assigns individual trustees to be liaisons with schools and their respective Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). It is attempted to apportion these assignments equally, so the average is three schools per trustee.
School District #60 trustees receive an annual indemnity of $13,045 that is paid monthly.