English School Board Will Have Full Slate of Trustees

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School Board will soon be at full strength, with 15 trustees in place. The Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education, announced today that seven individuals will be added to the board, joining the eight members of the School Board Transition Committee who became trustees of the school board on September 1. The new trustee appointments will be effective as of the board meeting on October 4.

“All of the additional trustees were members of the previous elected boards, and have agreed to serve on the provincial board until an election is held next year,” said Minister Jackman. “I am pleased these individuals have agreed to volunteer in this capacity, as the continuity will help ensure the transition to one English-language school board continues to go smoothly this year.”

The newly-appointed trustees include Gary Baikie (Labrador), Wayne Lee (Western), Newman Harris (Central), and John McCarthy, Eric Snow, Fred Douglas and Rick Martin (Eastern). Biographical information is included in the backgrounder below. They join the previously-named interim board members: Goronwy Price and Guy Elliott from Labrador; Donald Brown and Nada Borden from the Western region; John George and Kim Cheeks from the Central region, and Milton Peach and George Sheppard from the Eastern region. The members will elect a chair from amongst themselves, as outlined in the Schools Act, 1997.

Minister Jackman noted the additional trustees were selected based on regional levels of student enrolment, and on ensuring broad geographic representation. The trustees will serve until an election in 2014, an exact date for which will be determined in consultation with the new board chair and the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association.

“I take this opportunity to thank Lorne Wheeler, who served as independent chair of the School Board Transition Committee during this past spring and summer, and whose work was instrumental in ensuring corporate and financial functions were consolidated in time for school opening this year,” said Minister Jackman.

The Provincial Government announced in March that there will be one English-language school board in Newfoundland and Labrador, effective September 1, with the headquarters located in St. John’s. Regional offices are open in Gander, Corner Brook, and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, with senior executive, managers and staff focused primarily on educational programming and direct services to students.

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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca 

BACKGROUNDER

The following are the newly-named trustees to the Newfoundland and Labrador English School Board. They will join the eight trustees who, having served on the School Board Transition Committee, became members of the board as of September 1, 2013.

Gary Baikie lives in Nain. He was a trustee for two years with the Labrador School Board, representing Northern Labrador. He is currently employed by Parks Canada as the Visitor Experience and Product Development Manager at the Torngat Mountains National Park, and previously served as Transitional Minister of Finance with the Nunatsiavut Government; served as a Negotiator for Labrador Inuit on the Comprehensive Labrador Inuit Land Claim; is a former Mayor of Nain, and has served on various local, provincial, national and international committees and boards.

Wayne Lee was a trustee for eight years with the Western School Board, representing the Stephenville area. He was employed for 34 years as a high school science teacher. He is currently a member of the Bay St. George Community Development Board, chairs the local Co-Op Board, and is Vice-Chair of Co-Op Atlantic.

Newman Harris was a trustee with the Nova Central School Board for more than 15 years, representing Twillingate Island and New World Island to Boyd’s Cove. He was a principal and teacher for 30 years and retired in 1991. Mr. Newman lives in Summerford, where he also serves as a town councillor.

John McCarthy was a trustee for four years with the Eastern School Board, representing Mount Pearl, where he lives. He owns and operates Benjamin's Menswear in downtown St. John's; is a member of the Downtown Development Corporation, and a member of the Mount Pearl Soccer Association.

Eric Snow was a trustee for a total of eight years with the Eastern School Board and the former Avalon West School Board, representing the area from Bryant's Cove to Marysvale. He has been manager of Appraisal Associates Limited since 1990 and was employed as a building inspector/appraiser with the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation from 1975 to 1990. He lives in South River, Conception Bay.

Fred Douglas was a trustee with the Eastern School Board for four years, representing the Burin-Marystown-Terrenceville region. He was a high school teacher on the Burin Peninsula from 1975 to 2005. In 2003 he was elected President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association and also served as Vice-President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation. Mr. Douglas, who has been an active community volunteer for many years, lives in Burin Bay Arm.

Rick Martin spent 14 years as a trustee, representing the Clarenville area, with the Eastern School Board and the former Vista School Board. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA); an instructor at the College of the North Atlantic in Clarenville, where he lives; a member of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs, and serves on the board of the Community Business Development Corporation.

2013 09 24             1:00 p.m.