The Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) board of trustees will operate under the guidance of newly elected board chair Arlene Hrynyk for the next four years.
During their first meeting since the election of the new board on Thursday, Oct. 26, trustees were tasked with selecting a chair and vice-chair.
Incumbent chair Mandi Skogen and Hrynyk both received nominations for the position, with Hrynyk winning the secret ballot. Prior to her role as vice chair, Hrynyk spent a number of years as chair of the board. She hopes to work quickly to integrate the new trustees into the NLPS board.
“I'm honoured and humbled that my colleagues have entrusted me to serve on their behalf,” she expressed. “At the start of the new term, the biggest thing is building strong relationships and helping our colleagues get to the level of information they need to have in order to be effective in their governing role.”
As the lone nominee, trustee Michael Topylki took Hrynyk's previous spot as vice-chair of the board. He'll handle chair duties in the event of Hrynyk's absence, and is excited to accept the extended role with the board.
Expanding on his colleague's thoughts, Topylki also included team building as an immediate priority for the board.
“I get a closer look at what the chair does going forward. It's a great learning experience for me. Our immediate goals are going to be building relationships. We need to understand what people know and don't know about the system and learn from those aspects,'' he said.
The board will also focus on including all of the groups that have an impact on the board's decision-making process.
“I always think parents being involved helps a lot in the process. There's also an administrative side of it, and a school side of it at the ground level with students. You need a good combination of the two sides,” said Topylki.
With so many issues surrounding education in Alberta up in the air, integrating new trustees becomes even more of a focus for the board.
Each trustee will play a part in a number of key discussions over the next four years, and Hrynyk wants to ensure the board is fully prepared.
“There's just so much that is changing with education right now. There's amendments coming to the school act, and the curriculum re-design is approaching. Education is always changing to meet the needs of our children, and I think we're going to be responding to a number of great things over the next four years,” explained Hrynyk.
