The Board Chair of the Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) was recently elected Manitoba School Boards Association (MSBA) Vice-President (<6000) students in the division.
Leah Klassen was chosen for the role during MSBA's March convention.
"It is a complete honour to be able to serve in this role. I was able to serve on the MSBA executive for the last four years as Region 2 Director, which was fantastic. I was able to connect with our boards in this region, understanding some of their concerns. Now my term ended, and so I was nominated by Garden Valley School Division Board for the Vice President and voted in by trustees from across the province. So, it was a very big honour to be elected into this position."
She described how some of the work of the executive comes from what happens at the convention, held on March 16 and 17, this year.
"What happens at our March Convention is; the regions will bring forward resolutions for the Manitoba School Boards Association to advocate on their behalf for. So, some of the things that we're definitely talking about in our area is the loss of local taxation and what that means to funding and education for school boards."
She said this is a big issue.
"School divisions across Manitoba are deficit budgeting and a lot of them will feel that the loss of taxation, the loss of local autonomy in that area definitely contributes to that factor."
Klassen said there was a resolution on this topic that came from Region 2.
"That was passed on the MSBA convention floor, so then the MSBA executive and staff will take a look at those and look at how we can best advocate government for that."
The MSBA Executive will have an executive retreat in May, with some new faces around the table, Klassen noted, to set direction for the coming year to best connect and represent member boards.
She reflected on the significance of her election to this role and those who served in it before her from this region, one in particular.
"I think something interesting to highlight is the fact that I'm probably the third in about 30 years from our area to be elected into the Vice President of school boards less than 6000. And Hilda Froese, who was a 18-year veteran of Garden Valley School division was in that position, at one point in her career. So, it's exciting to see that some of those things and traditions are moving forward in our area."
~ With files from Pam Fedack