Current and retiring school trustees say the job is an important one

Choosing a school board trustee may not be top of mind for some voters, but a current and retiring trustee say the role is an important one.

Michael Bellmore has been acclaimed as a trustee with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, and said in some cases, school boards are larger organizations than small municipalities.

"Trustees are responsible for a budget of over $100 million," he said.

"You know we have 7,000 students in our charge. We have plant and property to the equivalent of about 21 or 22 sites at Sudbury Catholic alone, plus a full-time staff complement that's huge."

Bellmore said he and his fellow trustees are responsible for hiring the school board's director of education, setting board policy and approving the budget.

Bellmore said he has always taken the role seriously. When he was campaigning in past elections, he said he made an effort to knock on the door of every English Catholic supporter in his area.

"People were impressed because in all the years they had lived in that home at that address and all the years they had been a supporter, they had never once seen a trustee candidate show up at their door," he said.

One of the most important issues school board trustees will continue to address is the return to in-person learning after the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a shift to online learning.

"So we're dealing with a generational loss potentially here where kids have been out of school for a long period of time," Bellmore said

He said students who started the second grade this year, for example, might never have been in a classroom before.

Alan Bottomley, a retiring trustee with the Near North District School Board, said the pandemic has increased anxiety among students and staff.

"I think we're facing a real problem in keeping people on the road to good education. We have to help these kids," he said.

Bottomley said part of a trustee's job is to solve problems for the students. He said, for example, that he was against a trend to build larger schools further apart.

"That never made sense to me," said Bottomley, who is a former teacher. "I've taught kids who came in on the bus, they were so tired."

He added that anyone running for trustee should get an early start and build connections.

"I had good connections with all the town councils in my area," he said.

Voters across Ontario will be able to vote for their local trustees on Oct. 24. In some municipalities, there are also advanced polls online or through mail-in-ballot.