Black Gold School Division

780-955-6025

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Becoming a Trustee

What do School Board Trustees do?

School board trustees are local politicians elected by and accountable to the community they serve. The provincial government delegates to school boards the responsibility for conducting the affairs of the school jurisdiction. School boards have numerous responsibilities, including but not limited to:

  • Setting school division goals that ensure students have the knowledge and skills that enable them to be better prepared for life;
  • Acting as a member of the negotiating team and represent the Board of Trustees in collective bargaining;
  • Planning school division priorities based on provincial curriculum requirements, community input, available resources and best practices in education;
  • Developing and implementing an annual budget for the school division based on curriculum requirements and strategic priorities.
  • Developing policies to guide school jurisdiction administration and employees toward division goals;
  • Ensuring residents of the school jurisdiction are regularly informed about the work and achievements of the school division;
  • Advocating on behalf of the school community to decision-makers and stakeholders on important issues that affect education, and to ensure education is a top public priority;
  • Ensuring regular opportunities for public input and access;
  • Evaluating the school jurisdiction’s chief executive officer – the superintendent of schools.

Candidates are encouraged to refer to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Education Act for complete information.

 

Who is Eligible?

In order to be eligible to run for a School Board Trustee, you must:

  • Be at least 18 years old;
  • Be a Canadian citizen;
  • Have lived in Alberta for at least six consecutive months immediately preceding Nomination Day, and you live within the boundaries of the jurisdiction in which you wish to run.

In public school jurisdictions, you must:

  • Be eligible to vote in the election;
  • Have lived in the local jurisdiction and the ward, if any, for at least six consecutive months immediately preceding Nomination Day*

* Regardless of this requirement, a candidate for trustee of a board of a school district that is wholly or partly within the boundaries of a city is not required to be a resident of the ward but must be a resident of the school district.

You are not eligible to run if, on Nomination Day, you:

  • Are an employee of any school district, school division, charter school or private school as of nomination day – unless you take an unpaid leave of absence to run before the last working day prior to nomination day;
  • Are an auditor of the jurisdiction in which you want to be a candidate;
  • Do not meet the residency requirement for the jurisdiction in which you want to run;
  • Are otherwise ineligible or disqualified as outlined under section 22 of the Local Authorities Election Act.

See sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Local Authorities Election Act for more details.