At the Annual Organizational Meeting of the Halton District School Board, held on Wednesday, December 2, 2015, 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 Kelly Amos was first to indicate her interest in the position of Chair. The 2015 Vice-Chair Amy Collard also indicated an interest in the role. Following the casting of ballots, Kelly Amos was elected as Chair.
Most recently, Amos has served in the role of Chair of the Board since 2013, and has previously fulfilled the role of Vice-Chair as well as serving on a number of Board committees including Communications, the Halton Learning Foundation and as founding chair of the Board’s Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) in 2006. She served her first term from 2000-2003 (after being appointed in September 2000 prior to being elected in the November 2000 municipal election), and was re-elected in 2003. She returned as a trustee when elected in the 2010 municipal election, and was re-elected in 2014.
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.” She reiterated her commitment to “continue to encourage our different viewpoints, respect the varied perspectives, and work collaboratively to make decisions that will benefit all students.”
“The upcoming year will have both challenges and opportunities,” says Amos, “but by working collaboratively with each other to seek out information and find the best possible solutions; by working with our senior staff to create new goals for our Multi-Year Plan and the annual Operational Plans; by engaging our parent communities and working with our provincial and municipal partners, I believe we have the collective knowledge, diverse opinions and perspectives that can only help this Board grow stronger – to continue its position as a leading board in this province.”
The Board also elected Kim Graves as Vice-Chair, succeeding Amy Collard in this role. Graves was elected as a Milton trustee in the November 2014 municipal election, after being initially appointed when a trustee vacancy arose in July of that year. She too commented on the collaborative approach she would bring to the role of Vice-Chair.
“My goal as Vice-Chair will be to support the Chair in her capacity and also to serve you, the Board,” says Graves. “I will strive to ensure everyone’s voice is heard and reflected in the decisions we make.”
Trustees will hold their second December meeting on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 beginning 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 6, 2016. The entire upcoming meeting schedule for the Halton District School Board posted on the Board’s website at: www.hdsb.ca