There are two crowded races shaping up in the capital region’s four school-board elections, with everything from a daughter looking to succeed her mother in the Sooke district to a former Saanich district superintendent in the mix for a seat as a trustee.
In the Greater Victoria School District, the region’s largest with about 20,000 students, 30 candidates — up from 13 in the last election — are vying for nine seats on the board. That includes five incumbents, although veteran trustees Tom Ferris and Elaine Leonard are not on the ballot this time.
Joan Axford, the district’s returning officer, said the size of the trustee field looks to be unprecedented. “I think this is the most candidates they’ve had running,” she said, noting 33 people initially put their names forward, but three withdrew after the nomination period.
Trustees are elected at-large from the seven municipalities that make up the district, which means they have to campaign in a large area, Axford said. “It’s quite a deal for the candidates to even advertise in that many places.”
The president of the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils points to recent controversies for motivating the large number of trustee hopefuls.
Tracy Humphreys said that includes the suspensions of trustees Rob Paynter and Diane McNally, who are both running again. The two were suspended from February through October after allegations of bullying and staff harassment, and then reinstated in September after a judicial decision in their favour.
Another impetus for the large number of trustee hopefuls is backlash against proposed cuts to school music programs in the past two years, which “galvanized” a lot of people, said Humphreys, who is also the executive director of BCEdAccess — a volunteer-run group that works with families of students with disabilities and complex learning needs.
Amid “discouragingly low” historic voter-turnout rates for school board, Humphreys urged voters to get to know the trustee candidates, pointing to key issues such as the need to hire more education assistants and the sale of district-owned land and other assets.
Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils has sent out a questionnaire to all of the candidates, asking about everything from how to define the role of trustee to how to deal with budget issues that can lead to staff and program cuts.
In Sooke, meanwhile, one of the fastest-growing districts in the province, 14 people are running to fill seven spots.
Five-term trustee Dianna Seaton has decided it’s time to bow out, but daughter Christine Lervold will try to keep the board’s family connection going as a first-time candidate. (Family patriarch Lanny Seaton is running again for Langford council, where he has served since 1996.)
Also stepping away from the Sooke board are longtime trustees Margo Swinburnson and Bob Phillips, who have both been around for seven terms.
The Saanich district, which is divided into electoral zones, has five of its seven seats already filled by acclamation. The open seat, for the North Saanich zone, is being contested by Keven Elder, who served as district superintendent from 2005 to 2017, incumbent Elsie McMurphy and accountant/governance advisor Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland.
In the Gulf Islands district, six people are running for the four seats on Salt Spring Island, with Greg Lucas unopposed on the Pender Islands, Chaya Katrensky unopposed on Saturna Island and Jeannine Georgeson unopposed on Galiano Island.
There were no candidates for the Mayne Island seat by the deadline, so a trustee will be chosen by an alternative process after the election.
Among the largest of the up-Island school districts, Cowichan Valley has 18 people seeking seven trustee seats, while Nanaimo-Ladysmith has 12 people running for nine positions. Incumbent Cowichan Valley trustee Elizabeth Croft is also a candidate for North Cowichan council.
The election will be held on Oct. 15.
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