ESTEVAN - The trustees from the Estevan area who will be part of the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division's board for the next four years are looking forward to what will happen.
Karen Melle and Virgilito (Gil) Sotto will be the two city of Estevan trustees on the board, while Kristy Phillips will be the representative for the Estevan rural subdivision, known as Spruce Ridge. All three were elected by acclamation.
Melle is the most tenured member of the three, as her experience dates back to the late 1990s when she was part of the Estevan Catholic board, which amalgamated with its Weyburn and Radville counterparts approximately 20 years ago to form Holy Family. Melle has been on the Holy Family board since its inception.
Melle said she "strongly considered" not seeking re-election, and she was hoping somebody else would step up and join the board, but she also still enjoys the work of being a trustee and watching the division progress, while keeping tabs on how the money is being spent.
"It was a tough decision this time to put my name forward, but I would never like to see a seat empty," sad Melle.
Melle said she enjoys seeing the successes of the children and how the administration is able to provide quality education, even when funding is an issue.
The Holy Family board is "quite experienced", she said, with some trustees who have been there for many years.
Issues for Holy Family for the next four years will include complexities they are seeing in the schools and having the funding required to meet the needs of students and staff. It will also be important to continue to incorporate their Catholic faith into education.
"Artificial intelligence is, of course, something on everybody's minds and the complexities that it may bring into our schools, along with Indigenous culture, the Indigenous education is very important as well," she said.
Sotto is wrapping up his first term as the Estevan rural trustee and is now shifting over to a city rep. He said he wants to help the students and their best interests and continue to help the community.
His first year on the board was spent observing what happens. The early focus of the term was on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the welfare of the students.
"It's really nice to be part of the Holy Family board, because I can see that they are leading by example. And then the Catholic teachings and faith were always in the goal and purpose in every meeting that we have."
The board gave him a lot of support when he was new and they understood he was learning.
Sotto doesn't expect there will be much of a difference between representing the rural and the city residents.
"I am more in contact with the city, so I can help more people and families here in the city. I can help more people like families here in the city and I know most of them, especially the new Canadians, the new immigrants that have come in here, too."
Phillips attended the Catholic school system in Estevan prior to the merger into Holy Family and is part of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church. She said it is important to represent their faith, community and rural areas.
"My children were all members of the Holy Family school division," said Phillips.
She believes she will have a lot to learn in terms of what happens with the board, but she does have some idea of the complexities associated with the board. And she can draw on the experience of Melle, who is her mother.
"We have conversations regularly about issues that the … schools face and the boards face within our province," said Melle. "It's always a conversation that we partake in, and she's given me some ideas of what I can expect as a board member."
Phillips said she would like to see what type of additional funding Holy Family can receive from the provincial government to help with the complexity issues that occur in the classroom.
It's becoming increasingly difficult to find people to step up and move into the school board positions, she said, and she's happy to use her experience as a past school community council member and student to contribute to Holy Family.
