With the next school trustee election just over three months away, School District 73’s superintendent says anyone seeking a seat on the board should be prepared to put aside personal agendas and focus on making decisions that serve students across the district.
The comments came as the Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education adopted its updated trustee election bylaw ahead of the Oct. 17 vote.
“Don’t take the opportunity lightly,” said school district superintendent Mike St. John.
“You run as a trustee but once you become elected you’re a member of a board. Your decisions that you make as a board affect the entire board, not just your particular part or the part you geographically represent.”
This board makes all the decisions around school budget and policy. However, trustees are generally not educators so SD73’s senior administration team provides them with the most up-to-date research and evidence based information to make the best decisions they can, St. John told the Chronicle.
“When they do get to the vote, when they do have opportunity to say yes we’re going to spend our money on this initiative or this policy requires a change, they are doing it based on the very best our team is able to give them,” he said.
The next election will take place on Saturday, Oct. 17, alongside municipal elections across British Columbia. Candidate nominations will be accepted from Sept. 1 to Sept. 11, with the official campaign period beginning Sept. 19.
The revised bylaw largely aligns trustee elections with provincial legislation and, in Kamloops, the City’s election bylaws. It confirms advance voting opportunities, requires candidates to be nominated by at least two qualified electors, places candidate names on ballots in alphabetical order, and sets out procedures for tie votes and public access to nomination papers and campaign finance disclosure statements. It also formalizes where election notices will be published, including municipal offices, the school district website, social media and local newspapers.
SD73 is governed by a nine-member board, with five trustees elected at large in the City of Kamloops and one trustee each representing the North Thompson, Barriere-Little Fort, Chase and Logan Lake electoral areas. Trustees serve four-year terms
The current board consists of Chair Heather Grieve, Vice-Chair Rhonda Kershaw, Kamloops trustees John O’Fee, Cole Hickson, Kathleen Karpuk, and Jo Kang, along with Diane Jules (TNRD Areas L and P, Chase, and Sun Peaks), Shelley Sim (Clearwater, Area A, and Area O), and Cara McKelvey (Savona and Logan Lake).
So far, Kamloops trustees Heather Grieve, Jo Kang and Cole Hickson have publicly announced they intend to seek re-election.
The race is also beginning to attract challengers. Longtime District Parent Advisory Council president Bonnie McBride has stepped down from her role to run for trustee, while Kamloops business owner Jimmy Johal, who was unsuccessful in the 2022 election, has also announced his intention to run. Other incumbent trustees have not yet publicly confirmed whether they will seek another term.