There were some tears shed at last Monday night's Western School Division School Board's public meeting, with the announcement of Trustee and former Board Vice-Chair David Guenther's resignation, according to Board Vice-Chair Darcy Wolfe, "And more probably will be shed," as Guenther is moving to Tennessee.
Guenther was just a father of 2 young children with one on the way when he was acclaimed to his first term in 2018.
"I've certainly enjoyed my time here and if I wasn't moving away with my family to start another family adventure, I'd be here for a lot longer. I ended my invocation on Monday with some words of my father. They were the words I didn't want to hear as a child but reflect fondly on as an adult and that is, 'Quit while you're having fun.' I've certainly had a blast being a trustee here. I consider it an honor to be quitting now while I'm still having fun."
Guenther's father, Kurt, served as a WSD Trustee for 23 years prior to David's service.
One of the highlights of his 6 years on the board was a professional growth opportunity, taking a trip to the National School Board Association Conference in his first term.
He shared another highlight of his service.
"I guess, Bill 64 was definitely an interesting time for us with the prospect of school boards being annihilated. It was amazing to see the support from the community come together to really retain the local voice and local choice and know that education being handled and managed at the local level is best for our students and our community. The alternative being if, if we don't remember Bill 64, would be that decisions would largely be made in Winnipeg outside of the community here."
Wolfe gave his reaction to Guenther's resignation.
"He's going to be very missed. He was a calm, intelligent, and humorous voice around the board table. One that can always be counted on to give good insight into the issues, and his voice and his leadership will be missed around the table."
Wolfe and Guenther started their first terms at the same time.
"I guess I kind of grew as a trustee alongside David and really got to know him as a trustee and as a person. He became a very good friend."
Wolfe outlined the next steps to fill the vacant position, a by-election.
"Now that he's handed in his paperwork, in the next few weeks after possibly after we finish our budget later this month, we'll be looking at what that process will be, but we will be having to have a by election. So, if there are people out there listening who are interested in education, in the future of our community, this would be a good time to step up and serve as a school trustee."
Guenther said the prerequisite to run for his vacant seat isn't to be an expert in education but rather to be interested in how good decisions in education are made, being a voice for your neighbours, friends, and community to ensure students in Western get a quality education.
"You get to make really interesting decisions as far as what programs get supported. You get to see the evidence of how much good impact things have and where to allocate taxpayer dollars. Really, no experience is necessary. To be a good board member would be the ability to have healthy conversations and be able to agree or disagree very well. Everyone around that board table now has the right intentions, but not everyone has the same opinions, and that makes a really healthy board."
Guenther would like to thank the senior administration, staff & students, and the citizens of Westen School Division for placing their trust in him to be their voice in education, it's something he never took lightly.