At the Annual Organizational Meeting of the Halton District School Board, held on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, trustees elected the Chair and Vice-Chair for the upcoming year. This is an annual process with the 11 Halton District School Board trustees choosing from within their colleagues for these roles.
Incumbent Chair Amy Collard was first to indicate her interest in the position of Chair. Trustees Kelly Amos and Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead also indicated an interest in the role. In a second ballot decision Kelly Amos was elected as Chair.
Amos is in her third full term as a trustee with the Halton District School Board, having served her first term from 2000-2003 (after being appointed in September 2000 prior to being elected in the November 2000 municipal election). She was re-elected in 2003. Amos helped create, and served as founding chair of the Board’s Parent Involvement Committee (2006-08) before returning as a trustee when elected in the 2010 municipal election. Amos has served on a variety of committees, most recently chairing the Board’s Communications Committee and acting as the trustee representative on the Halton Learning Foundation Board.
In her inaugural comments, Amos thanked her colleagues for their support, and commented on the wide range of “skills, experience and knowledge represented by the trustees of the Halton District School Board that helps provide a balance between the interests of our broader community and the students we serve.”
“This next year will have its challenges as it is the last year of our term, and that means we’re going to have to work together, prioritizing what we need to finish and what we need to start,” says Amos. “In setting those priorities, we need to keep our focus on what decision is in the best interest of our students.”
Kathryn Bateman Olmstead and Amy Collard each indicated an interest in assuming the role of Vice-Chair for the upcoming year. Following the casting of ballots, Amy Collard was declared the successful candidate. In the role of Vice-Chair, Collard will chair the private session segments of Board meetings, and lead the Director’s Performance Review Committee as well as participating in other Board committees.
Collard is serving her first term as trustee, being elected in Burlington in the 2010 municipal election. Having completed a year as Chair of the Board as well as taking a lead in a number of other committees and initiatives, Collard cited her eagerness to continue working in a leadership role with the Board.
"I am very pleased to be able to serve the students and staff of the Halton District School Board in the role of Vice Chair,” says Collard. “This will be a very busy year for our Board and I look forward to the variety of challenges and opportunities we will face as we work to learn, grow and succeed together."
Trustees continued the December 4 business meeting, but determined the need for a special Board meeting to finish business prior to the December school break. The next meeting of the Halton District School Board will be a special Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 7 p.m. at the JW Singleton Education Centre, Burlington.
The regular schedule of Board meetings will resume in January, with the first meeting slated for Wednesday, January 8, 2014. The entire upcoming meeting schedule for the Halton District School Board posted on the Board’s website at: www.hdsb.ca