b'MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT - LAURIE FRENCHIt is hard to believe another year has passed since our last annual report and I have been honoured to serve as President of the Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA) for another term. Last year at this time I noted it had been a year like no other as we grappled with COVID-19 and the effects on our students, families and education staff. Yet again, weve had an unprecedented year as we continued to support public education during the pandemic and I am incredibly proud of the continued advocacy our trustees have provided across Canada. I want to acknowledge the tremendous work of education staff, school and system leaders, including trustees as we continue to navigate our way through the pandemic. There have been many challenges, but there have also been many successes over the past year. With authentic collaboration of everyone involved in public education, we have innovated, inspired and supported students in amazing ways. Pivoting in many cases between remote learning, in-person learning, with connectivity limitations, masks in school, reduced activities, financial and mental health impactsall of these obstacles were thrown in our way, but we persevered on behalf of our communities. We have an incredibly dedicated Board of Directors working on numerous committees and initiatives. It has been a pleasure to welcome Carolyn Broady as our Vice President who has shown excellent leadership and commitment to the role.Changes in education are happening in different parts of the country, and the CSBA continues to monitor the discussions and decisions made, providing support to the provincial associations and communicating with ministries of education. We continue to advocate for democratically elected school boards in all provinces, but most recently have focused efforts in New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Manitoba. It is important that trustees everywhere find opportunities to engage with their communities and governments to share the important work they are doing to support students and advance public education. Our role as national voice for public school board trustees is increasingly recognized as requests from national and provincial/territorial media increases. I had the opportunity to be part of a panel on The Agenda in Ontario, and responded to several interviews with CBC Radio and Global News. The CSBA welcomed ACPO as its newest member. Representing francophone school boards in Ontario, the addition of lAssociation des conseils scolaires des coles publiques de lOntario means that CSBA represents all public schools in Ontario, strengthening our collective national voice. President Denis Chartrand and Executive Director Isabelle Girard are very active and supportive members of the board and committees, and we are fortunate to have them at the table.I was so pleased with the participation of over 500 participants for the 2021 National Trustees Gathering on Indigenous Education and CSBA Congress virtually. The quality of the content was outstanding with a focus on Anti-Racism, Mental Health and Indigenous Education, and I want to thank the staff and members of the Quebec English School Boards Association for their work in hosting the online conference this year.We had the opportunity to partner with the Canadian Association of School System Administrators (CASSA) to deliver this professional development experience. It was a great success! Planning is already underway for the 2022 event, which is scheduled to take place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In addition to the annual conference, the executive and the Board of Directors have continued to meet online and to address issues of importance to public education. Despite COVID consuming enormous time and energy for school board trustees and school system leaders, we continue to make progress with association priorities and partnerships. Like many boards, we are looking forward to seeing everyone face-to-face in the near future.6'