The Yukon’s three Catholic schools will be holding a vote to elect members of their school councils, according to Elections Yukon.
An April 25 press release from Elections Yukon announced Christ the King Elementary School, Holy Family Elementary School and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School in Whitehorse will hold polls to fill each of their five elected positions on school council.
The release notes eligible electors will be able to vote in-person at the school holding the election on May 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or May 6 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Electors can also request a ballot be mailed to them or be held for pick up at Elections Yukon’s office.
Yukoners can vote if they are Canadian citizens, at least 18 years old and either: the parent or guardian of a student attending the school and/or have lived in the school’s attendance area for at least three months and are a registered parishioner of Sacred Heart Cathedral parish or Our Lady of Victory parish or have written approval from the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Whitehorse designating them a resident in the attendance area for electoral purposes, as noted in the release.
In total, 79 candidates put their names in the running for 86 elected positions on 17 school councils across the territory, per Elections Yukon.
School council members in the remaining 14 schools were elected by acclamation. Of those, four schools filled all elected seats on council and 18 positions remained unfilled.
As a result, all Yukon school councils will meet quorum by having at least two members, according to Elections Yukon.
Elections Yukon deals with the elected positions on councils. However, as noted in the Education Act, “vacancy in the membership of a school board or council does not impair the capacity of the remaining members or trustees to act.”
At Christ the King Elementary School, Milton Davis, Kayla Jurovich, Rocío Castro, Evan Moffat, Emilie Dory, Alethea Wallace and Mike Snider are the candidates in the running.
Holy Family Elementary School has 13 candidates: Kenechukwu Onwudinjo, David MacMartin, Shirah Davis, Liz Berg, Sarah Hougen, Robyn Burns, Nancy Heinbigner, Brandon Morris, Sara Poirier, Jody Eikelboom, Gina Anderson, Daniel Harms and Barbara Drury.
Six candidates are vying for the five elected spots on council for St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Secondary School: Christopher Potvin, Ben Yu Schott, Ryan Sikkes, Bagalao Rod, Jeannette Gallant and Katherine Williams.
Candidates are presented in the order they are listed in the Elections Yukon release. The list of candidates, as well as their photos and biographies (if submitted), are available on the Elections Yukon website.
Nominations closed at noon on April 25.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com