While the new crop of School District No. 46 (SD46) trustees won’t be finalized until after the Oct. 20 civic elections, one has already taken his seat at the table. Nicholas Davis was sworn in as the district’s sixth student trustee at an Oct. 10 board meeting.
In his first student trustee report, the Grade 12 Elphinstone Secondary student thanked the outgoing board of trustees and said he feels “really honoured to be here, to have this position and be trusted by the DSLT to represent student voice.”
Student trustees don’t have a vote and aren’t privy to closed meetings because they are not elected by the public. They provide reports to the board on behalf of students in the district and are elected by the District Student Leadership Team (DSLT), a group of students representing the student body at each secondary school in the district and which meets monthly with the superintendent, principals and vice principals.
Chair Lori Pratt congratulated Davis at the meeting and later stated in a release, “Our most sincere consultation efforts do not always reach the heart of the students’ daily interaction with education. Direct student input adds depth and perspective to Board discussions as we ensure excellence in education for all of our students.”
SD46 was the first district to bring a student trustee to the board, followed by the Vancouver School Board, with a handful of other districts either introducing or exploring the option.
Following his inaugural meeting, Davis reflected on the efforts of last year’s student trustee Pearl Deasey, who campaigned provincially for student voice. Davis told Coast Reporter that’s what he’s aiming for, too. “I think it’s a really cool thing for advancing students rights and ability to represent themselves,” he said.
He said he also is interested in seeing creative thinking, cooperation and critical thinking in the classroom.
Prior to being elected, Davis spent a year with DSLT and was involved in leadership initiatives at his secondary school that involved representing the student body, which is what motivated him run for the position of student trustee. “It seems like a great way to continue to do that and push forward student voice,” he said.
Pratt and other trustees also made their public goodbyes at the last regular meeting of the board before the Oct. 20 election.
Pratt, who has served as a trustee for 10 years and who is stepping down to serve as Sunshine Coast Regional District director for Halfmoon Bay, thanked staff and her fellow trustees, including Lori Dixon, Greg Russell, Betty Baxter, Christine Younghusband and Dave Mewhort, all of whom are leaving this year.
“I have a great amount of gratitude for this position I’ve had for the past 10 years. I’m going to miss it greatly, but I’m going to bring that positiveness to another government on the Coast and hopefully use the lessons I’ve learned, the good lessons and bad lessons, and create a better culture in another area,” she said. Younghusband and vice chair Pammila Ruth, the only incumbent candidate, also thanked the board.
