It’s a new look for the Delta board of education.
Saturday’s civic election saw three first-time candidates join the board, while incumbents Dale Saip and Rhiannon Bennett weren’t re-elected.
New to the board are Jessie Dosanjh, Erica Beard and Daniel Boisvert, all members of the Achieving For Delta ticket that saw George Harvie become mayor and four on his slate win council seats. While that slate now has a presence on school board, it won’t have a majority like it has on council.
The leading vote getter for school board was once again Laura Dixon, the current board chair, followed by incumbent Nick Kanakos, both members of the Independents Working For You ticket. Also re-elected were independent Val Windsor, the former Delta Teachers’ Association president, and Bruce Reid, the only member of the Kids Matter slate to win a seat.
Dixon said they will miss what Bennett and Saip each brought to the board, but she is also impressed with the caliber of the new trustees.
“We knew we would potentially see some new blood on the board and we’re pleased that the new trustees are very keen and they have a wide variety of backgrounds. They certainly seem very well intentioned as far as public education. Of course, it’s going to be a whole new avenue in their lives and it’s going to be a steep learning curve and we’re already in the midst of laying out orientation dates and reaching out to them,” she said.
Once the results were final on Saturday, Beard said she was excited to have made it onto the school board and her slate “will do a number of positive moves for Delta.”
Funding issues, including the province’s plan to change the funding allocation formula, will once again be top of mind for the next school board.
It remains to be seen how the new dynamic of the board will impact other initiatives that have been pushed, in particular getting the city to be involved in building a track facility in North Delta. The board had made public the need for the city to be involved, having reached a cost-sharing deal this summer to resurface the old track at South Delta Secondary.
The board also recently approved a motion to take another look at how school playground equipment replacement is funded, wanting to take the onus off parent groups and have the city even more involved in funding that as well.
The inaugural meeting of the new board takes place Tuesday, Nov. 6.
