The Greater Victoria school board is in for some changes after Saturday with the departure of trustees Michael McEvoy and Catherine Alpha.
The other seven incumbents are running for one of the nine seats at the board table.
Longest-serving of the incumbents hoping to return is Bev Horsman, who has been a trustee for the past 27 years. Current board chairwoman Peg Orcherton is also vying for another term, as are Elaine Leonard, Tom Ferris, Edith Loring-Kuhanga, Deborah Nohr and Diane McNally.
Prospective new voices are Nicole Duncan, Ruth MacIntosh, Rob Paynter, John Rizzuti, Jordan Watters and Ann Whiteaker.
The board oversees the largest of the capital region’s four school districts, with 18,700 students. For district parents, the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils provides broad-based representation and speaks up on a range of issues.
Confederation president John Bird said his group has contributed to the past three trustee elections by organizing all-candidates meetings, and has done the same this year. The first meeting in late October generated considerable talk about the education system being underfunded, he said.
As in past years, some trustees are presenting themselves as part of a group, a move that Ferris said is largely economic in his case. He appears on election material with Leonard and Rizzuti and said that the trio is spending about $9,000 combined — most of it on a brochure being sent out. “It’s prohibitively expensive to run on your own,” Ferris said. “You’re looking at 120,000 households.”
Nohr, McNally, Loring-Kuhanga, Paynter and Watters are part of United 61, what they call a “progressive coalition” of independent candidates. Those five and Whiteaker have been endorsed by the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association.
» READ MORE: Candidate profiles
District snapshot
- Operating budget: $173 million
- Students: 18,700
- Schools: 45 — 27 elementary, 10 middle, eight secondary
- Teachers: 1,600
- Trustees: Nine
- Annual salary, board chair: $20,500
- Annual salary, vice-chairperson: $19,500
- Annual salary, trustees: $17,500
- District includes: Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal and parts of Saanich and the Highlands
- Website: sd61.bc.ca
