(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

Student Trustees

Two new student trustees represent Sask Rivers School Division board

Oct 12, 2021 | 4:00 PM

At their regular board meeting on Oct. 4, the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division, (SRSD) named two new student trustees for the upcoming school year.

Prince Albert Collegiate Institute student, Tia-Lee McCallum was named the urban trustee and Daniel Vidal, a student from W.P Sandin School in Shellbrook was named as the rural trustee. They were both sworn in during a ceremony at the meeting.

“They are elected by a student leadership team,” Robert Bratvold, SRSD executive director told paNOW. “Student trustees on the board are great, it is something we have been doing as a school division for a number of years. They have tremendous perspectives, are really valuable to the board and they represent the student voice really well.”

He explained the division’s student council has two or three representatives from each high school in the division, totaling about 35 students that meet multiple times over the course of the year.

“At the start of the year they elect two of them to sit at the board table,” Bratvold said. “Part of their constitution is that one of the student trustees has to be from an urban area, and one has to be from a rural area.”

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The two student trustees will have numerous responsibilities throughout the year, said Bratvold.

“First of all, they sit at every regular board meeting, and they are fellow trustees,” he explained. “They don’t have the authority to vote because that is governed by provincial legislation.

“They have the authority to participate in every conversation and can suggest motions that a trustee can make, and they can certainly express their vote.”

The student trustees will focus on extra-curricular priorities for both the schools and students.

“They also bring questions, concerns, and comments from the board back to the students for consideration,” Bratvold added.

Although the school division has many mechanisms of staying in contact with their many students, Bratvold said this is one of the best ways to bring the student voice straight to the top.

“They bring the voice of the students directly to trustees and to the board,” Bratvold said.

The next board meeting will take place on Nov. 8.

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Dawson.thompson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @dawsonthompson8