.jpg)
Audrey Trombley, the South East Cornerstone Public School Division Board Chair, was recently recognized for her contributions when she was presented with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association’s Award of Distinction. The award is the highest recognition from the SSBA and is awarded every year to a school board member who demonstrates outstanding service and has made signification contributions to enhance education.
“Personally, I feel like I don’t individually deserve this award,” Trombley said. “This award is because of the work of our entire board, but it was the board who nominated me, and that gave me some confidence in seeking the election for the chair for another year. It’s a good feeling to know that after serving this long, that I still have the support of my board, and that’s the most important thing for me.”
Trombley has been a trustee for the SECPSD board since it was first created in 2005. She served as the chair from 2006 to 2009 and was then re-elected to the chair in 2014, serving in that role ever since.
The nomination referenced a number of local-level contributions by Trombley, including the role she played in the collaboration with the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division. As well, she has implemented Board Skills Matrix assessments to ensure what areas need more professional growth. She has also worked to keep the best interest of the students front and foremost, with a belief that system administration and the elected board need to work to support the needs of the students.
At the provincial level, the contributions noted in her nomination included being the first female member of SARM, the first female president of the Rural Municipal Administrators Association, and the first female recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Awar for Outstanding Service to Rural Saskatchewan.
“Audrey has been a leader through many critical and changing times in education,” said Janey Kotylak, the board chair of the Prairie Valley School Division. “She has served through the time of province-wide amalgamations, the formation of the public section of the SSBA, the change to the provincial funding model, the board governance review, and most recently the global pandemic along with many other evolutionary changes in education over her time as a board member.”
Some of the highlights for Trombley have been being part of the amalgamation of the school divisions in 2006, along with the Weyburn Facility Renewal program, which saw extensive work at Weyburn Comprehensive School and its transition to a Grades 7-12 school. She was also the board chair when the decision was made to build Legacy Park Elementary School and the new facility in Carlyle.
So, for those who are considering taking on a leadership role in education such as serving on a board, what advice does Trombley have?
“You have to make sure that you have time to engage with the SSBA, with other broad chairs, as well as keeping your board up to speed on what’s happening provincially,” Trombley emphasized. “School boards need to continue to work together to advocate for education.”
As for the future...
“A major part of our role is connecting with our communities, and we do that,” Trombley said. “But, we need to continue as a group to advocate for the funding for education.”