Sitting members of the Yukon First Nations School Board board of trustees say their role is a great honour, but with a byelection to fill a vacant board seat looming, no one has put their name forward yet.
At a Jan. 29 press conference, it was explained that the byelection is being held to fill a board seat left by an elected member who is no longer eligible to serve, having taken a full-time job with the school board.
The deadline for nominations is noon on Feb. 1 but as of the News’ deadline no nominations had been received. Nomination paperwork is available at electionsyukon.ca. Both voters and candidates must be 18 or older, a Canadian citizen, and either a member of a Yukon First Nation or a parent of a child attending one of the 11 schools the board operates. Nominations have to be cosigned by three people eligible to vote in the election.
Elections Yukon chief electoral officer Max Harvey explained that if only one nomination is received, the nominated person will receive the trustee seat by acclamation. If more than one nomination is received an election will be held on Feb. 12 via online voting and mail-in ballots.
Harvey said if no nominations are received by the deadline, another byelection would have to be held as the law doesn’t allow an extension.
Along with a technical explanation from the Elections Yukon official, board of trustees chair Dana Tizya-Tramm and trustee Gillian Staveley explained the responsibilities and rewards of sitting on the board.
“Today history is being made by a school board within the Education Act that is really looking to shift education and realize the spirit and intent from Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow, which education had a specific chapter,” Tizya-Tramm said.
He said board members should have an interest in guiding the recently-created school board and keeping up important relationships with the Yukon government and the chiefs’ committee on education.
“We also, you know, have special areas of responsibilities as well, within the board and we provide the overall direction for the school board and the vision, the trails, the trail markers, the strategic priorities, and the key outcomes,” Staveley added.
Both Staveley and Tizya-Tramm said they would love to see a youth or elder perspective on the board.
The sitting trustees added they are confident someone will come forward with a nomination. Staveley noted that she filed her nomination paperwork “at the last second,” ahead of the initial board election.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com