Three new trustees will join seven incumbents with the LDSB

After the dust settled on the 2022 Municipal Election, the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) announced that three new trustees will join seven incumbents for the next four-year term, 2022-2026. This includes the first Indigenous Trustee, to be appointed by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.

According to a release from the school board, the issue of representation and having an Indigenous voice at the Board level has been a topic of considerable discussion by Trustees in recent years and previously led to the addition of an Indigenous Student Trustee to start the 2020-2021 school year.

For the past three to four years, Limestone has had an Education Agreement with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte for students from the territory attending Napanee District Secondary School, the board stated. Trustees voted unanimously in May 2022 to approach the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte to pursue their interest in appointing an Indigenous Trustee (through Regulation 462/97, according to the Board). After consultations with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte and the Indigenous Education Advisory Council (IEAC), there was agreement that the Indigenous Trustee would be appointed by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte to ensure an Indigenous voice is at the Board table. The term of appointment will align with the four-year term served by trustees municipally elected from November 14, 2022 to November 14, 2026.

The addition of an Indigenous Trustee to the Board brings the number of trustee officials to 10. LDSB also has three student trustees, elected through the district’s Inter-school Council, representing the voices of Indigenous, Urban, and Rural students. 

After the Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 election, incumbents Karen McGregor, Suzanne Ruttan, Joy Morning, Garrett Elliott, Bob Godkin, Judith Brown, and Robin Hutcheon were either acclaimed or re-elected. Joining the Board as first-time Trustees are Tiffany Lloyd (acclaimed Greater Napanee) and Jim Neill (elected by those in the Kingscourt-Rideau-Countryside districts).

Former trustees Laurie French and Tom Gingrich chose not to run for re-election.

“The job of school board trustee is an important one focused on protecting and improving public education, and on empowering staff to provide high-quality learning opportunities for all students,” said Chair of the Board and veteran trustee Suzanne Ruttan. “As elected officials, trustees must balance the demands of the community with the duties required by the Ministry of Education. This can be challenging and takes dedicated leadership coupled with a willingness to seek innovative ideas and the courage to implement them.”

“I wish all new and re-elected trustees well as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of public education,” she added.

Director of Education Krishna Burra will work with staff to support incoming Trustees in their new role. “Staff look forward to working with the new Board of Trustees to ensure we are working together positively and collaboratively to support student achievement and well-being using the Board’s strategic plan as our road map,” Burra said.

According to the release, Earlier this year, the Board approved a change to the trustee distribution within the City of Kingston and Frontenac Islands for the 2022 municipal elections to better reflect the population across the municipality and to evenly distribute secondary schools amongst the five elected trustees representing Kingston and the Islands.  

LDSB said that the five municipally-elected trustees will now represent schools in the following electoral areas, effective for the term beginning November 15, 2022:

Other trustee distributions elected or acclaimed in the municipal elections include:

Loyalist /Stone Mills: (re-elected Robin Hutcheon)

• Amherst Island Public School
• Amherstview Public School
• Bath Public School
• Centreville Public School
• Enterprise Public School
• Ernestown Secondary School
• Fairfield Elementary School
• Newburgh Public School
• Odessa Public School
• Tamworth Elementary School

Town of Greater Napanee: (acclaimed Tiffany Lloyd)

• Napanee District Secondary School
• Selby Public School
• Southview Public School
• The Prince Charles School

Central Frontenac, Addington-Highlands, and North Frontenac: (acclaimed Karen McGregor, incumbent)

• Clarendon Central Public School
• Granite Ridge Education Centre
• Land O’Lakes Public School
• North Addington Education Centre

South Frontenac:  (acclaimed Suzanne Ruttan, incumbent)

• Harrowsmith Public School
• Loughborough Public School
• Perth Road Public School
• Prince Charles Public School
• Storrington Public School           
• Sydenham High School

School Board Trustees are locally elected representatives of the public, and they are the community’s advocate for public education. According to the release, they are required to carry out their responsibilities in a manner that assists the Board in fulfilling its duties under the Education Act. The new 10-member Limestone District School Board of Trustees will begin their four-year term November 15, 2022. Trustees will be officially sworn in at this time and will select a Chair and Vice-Chair. Trustees elect an executive each year of their four-year term.