Public school board trustees elect chair and vice-chair
Photo by Nour Mazloum.
At a meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, the Limestone District School Board trustees settled into their roles for the next four years, and elected the chair and vice-chair for 2019.
Trustee Suzanne Ruttan of the Township of South Frontenac was acclaimed for the position of chair, as no one else put their name forward for the position.
Trustee Laurie French of Greater Napanee and Trustee Robin Hutcheon of the Townships of Loyalist and Stone Mills were nominated for the vice-chair position.
Trustee French expressed that she would bring her experience from being on the Board last term to the role of Vice-Chair. She mentioned that the board evaluation was approved last term, but was never put in practice. If elected vice-chair, French said she would ensure the evaluation was used. By using the evaluation, the board can strive to do better based on the feedback they receive as a group, she said.
Trustee Hutcheon expressed that she would offer a new perspective to the vice-chair role, since she has never served on the board, but has been observing it for a while. Trustee Hutcheon claimed that anyone of them can perform this role, but that she believes a new person on the Board, like herself, would do it better.
In the end, it was Trustee French named to the vice-chair position for 2019 with a majority vote.
The new Limestone District School Board trustees for the next four years include three returning trustees: Laurie French (Greater Napanee) and Suzanne Ruttan, Chair (South Frontenac Township) were re-elected in their districts, and Karen McGregor (Central Frontenac, Addington Highlands, and North Frontenac Townships) was acclaimed.
The remainder of the Board is made up of first-time trustees: Judith Brown (City of Kingston: Loyalist-Cataraqui, Collins-Bayridge, and Lakeside districts); Garrett Elliott (City of Kingston: Portsmouth, Trillium, and Meadowbrook-Strathcona districts); Bob Godkin (City of Kingston: Countryside and Pittsburgh districts, and Frontenac Islands); Robin Hutcheon, Vice-Chair (Townships of Loyalist and Stonemills), Joy Morning (City of Kingston: Williamsville and Sydenham districts), and Tom Gingrich (City of Kingston: Kingscourt-Rideau and King’s Town Districts – acclaimed).