Leah Klassen is returning as Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) board chair for the 2024-25 school year. She was re-elected by acclamation at this week's reorganization meeting, and is going into her fourteenth year as a Trustee.
"It's a nice honour to have the support of the board, and I'm looking forward to an excellent year going forward together with them," she said.
At the same meeting, John Klassen was acclaimed as Board Vice Chair and will also Chair the Education Standing Committee. Trustee Tena Lane will Chair the Operation Standing Committee with Mandy Thiessen Chairing the Community Connections Committee.
Klassen noted the board will continue to work through the priorities set after an extensive consultation process was conducted with the public, business community and teachers after the 2022 election. Those priorities included early years literacy and numeracy, middle years numeracy as well as mental health and well-being. That strategic plan covers the 2023-27 timeframe.
Meanwhile, as the communities within GVSD continue to grow, how does that student population growth play into the board's focus for the coming year?
"Student growth always plays a role," noted Klassen. "We're looking at some definite growth areas, but we have our senior admin, and in turn our principals, that really look after a large portion of that. The population (in the division) isn't exploding, so we're growing at a nice steady pace, so it's manageable."
- With files from Alexander Peters -
The Standing Committees for 2024/25 are as follows:
Education – Trustees John Klassen, Heather DiFrancesco and Philipp Unruh
Operations – Trustees Tena Lane, Mike Rempel and Pamela Hiebert
Community Connections – Trustees Mandy Thiessen, Deana Wilson and Leah Klassen