One Estevan city public school board trustee has confirmed that she will be seeking a return to the board table while the other is still contemplating the situation.
Janet Foord, who has served on the South East Cornerstone Public School Division's board of trustees since amalgamation and for 19 years on a rural school division board prior to that, said she will be seeking another term at the table.
Foord has an additional interest in this year's election since she is currently serving out a term as the vice-president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association and would eventually like to climb the final rung of that ladder while continuing to serve the local electorate.
Estevan's other representative on the board is City employee Pam Currie who informed The Mercury that she is "seriously considering another run at it."
Currie said her current work schedule with the City of Estevan does restrict her attendance at all regular or special meetings, but not to the extent she doesn't feel she is filling the role responsibly. Currie is also the vice-chairwoman of the Cornerstone board of trustees, a position she has held for the past two years.
"I do have some work-related pressures, but I am very interested in this. I just wish more people were as interested as we are. I would encourage more of our community-minded people to step up and get involved at any level of our education system," Currie said.
Subdivision 4 trustee Kevin Keating indicated he will definitely seek re-election. Keating represents schools in Alameda, Oxbow, Lampman and Bienfait. Keating was a rookie trustee three years ago, replacing former trustee Gary Hammett in the last general election.
Harold Laich, who outpolled former trustee Shelley Slykhuis in that same election year in Subdivision 2, which includes schools in Arcola, Carlyle, Manor, Maryfield, Wawota and Parkland, said he is also seriously considering running again, but wasn't prepared to confirm his status completely.
Meanwhile Subdivision 5 (Fillmore, Macoun, Midale, Stoughton) representative Audrey Trombley said she is also considering another run at it, but noted she had some other items pending that needed to be addressed before she could give another run a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Trombley served as the first chairwoman of the Cornerstone system that came about through the merger of seven smaller public and rural school divisions in southeast Saskatchewan in 2006.
Daryl Harrison, Subdivision 3 (Carievale, Carnduff, Redvers) said he was still undecided about an attempt to regain a seat at the table.
The Mercury was unable to get responses from trustees Bryan Wilson and Len Williams representing the city of Weyburn; Bruce Wagner in Subdivision 6 (Gladmar, Oungre, Ogema, Pangman, Radville, Yellow Grass) and chairwoman Carol Flynn, Subdivision 1 (Moosomin, Rocanville, Wapella) prior to deadline, but there were indications that all four might be inclined to run again, which meant that none of the 10 public board trustees have given a definite no to the prospect of being a candidate once again.
The next general election for civic councils, public and separate school boards across the province will be in October this year.
Flynn had reflected earlier during the course of a general meeting May 17 that "this board is one that gets along with one another pretty well and I think the people who come to our boardroom for whatever reason, seem to sense that very quickly."
Flynn said that while the trustees have certainly had their differences and aren't afraid to air them publicly, when it comes down to the final debates and decisions they emerge with mutual respect for the opinions that come from their fellow board members and that is reflected in the positive outcomes that the school division has been able to achieve over the past four years.
