As we move from fall into winter and a New Year, I am pleased to share a sense of optimism and renewed energy across the Canadian School Boards Association. This has been a period marked by meaningful momentum— both in our national advocacy work and within the organization itself—as we continue championing the needs of publicly funded education systems across the country.

The Canadian School Boards Association Board of Directors is excited to welcome Janet Stewart as the new Executive Director. Janet will work with Nancy Pynch-Worthylake to transition into the role this summer. Nancy will officially wrap up her time with CSBA in August.

The Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA) is a true representation of the strength and optimism that make our country one of the greatest places in the world for living and learning. With a diversity of perspectives, opinions and cultural competencies that flow in abundance from our membership, CSBA holds a unique national position on all matters related to public education from coast to coast to coast.

This October our Board of Directors gathered in Ottawa for meetings and our annual federal advocacy event. While the summer passed quickly as it always tends to, it did offer some time to reflect on the success of the 2024 National Trustees Gathering on Indigenous Education and CSBA Congress in Toronto, hosted by the Ontario Public School Boards Association.

As the promise of summer nears, I know many educators and education partners are looking forward to the break. For me, summer means the National Trustees Gathering on Indigenous Education & CSBA Congress! Not only is the conference a wonderful way to kick off the summer, this year in Toronto, but it’s an excellent professional development and networking opportunity. 

The end of 2023 was a busy time for the CSBA Board of Directors, and work has continued into 2024. Throughout the fall I had the opportunity to spend time with trustees in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and British Columbia. Speaking with so many passionate elected officials around the country is always refreshing and reinforces what I already know to be true – local voices in public education matter

On behalf of the CSBA Board of Directors, I am pleased to report that our recent advocacy event in Ottawa on October 3 – 5, 2023 was very successful.

As I type this, I can not believe August is already here and that our time together in Banff was over a month ago! Canadian summers really do just fly by.

I am happy to be sharing the first President’s Bulletin for 2023. It’s hard to believe how much has happened around the world during the past three years.

Another calendar year has come and gone, and Trustees continue to support students and schools in local communities through a global pandemic. Across Canada, educators and support staff have continued to work in unprecedented conditions to ensure students receive their education.

I am pleased to be writing my first Message from the President for the CSBA President’s Bulletin. Thank you for your confidence in me to serve in this role for 2022-2023. I would like to thank Laurie French for her many years of dedicated service as President.

As another school year comes to an end, it’s a wonderful time for students, families, educators, and education partners, although the closing of this school year is bittersweet for me as I wrap up my four terms as President.

Summer will soon be upon us and I hope that you are all doing well as we near the end of a unique and challenging school year. I must express my continued gratitude to trustees and educators across Canada for your leadership and support of students and families.

It has been a year since COVID changed our way of life in Canada and around the world. While many things are different, one thing that has remained the same is the dedication and commitment to education shown by teachers, staff and trustees.

I am once again honoured to serve as CSBA President for the 2020- 2021 year, continuing to advance action in support of school boards across Canada. I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their continued support and leadership.

While the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, work has continued across the country on behalf of our members and our students. Educators, administrators and government officials have been working to find safe solutions for learning in September, and trustees have been providing support through communication and governance of their public education systems.

This is our second CSBA President’s Bulletin of 2020, and much has changed for Canada and the World! With the Covid-19 pandemic situation schools are closed and many people are working from home while all of Canada practices social distancing.

We are excited to publish the first CSBA President’s Bulletin of 2020! Last year was busy and there are no signs that things will be slowing down for this year.

Hoping you all had a great start to the new school year. Since my last message, the CSBA and OPSBA hosted a very successful Annual Congress and National Trustee Gathering on Indigenous Education in Toronto.

The last few months have been very busy for CSBA, and I am very proud of the work we are all doing collectively to support public education across the country.

Since becoming president last July, there has been a lot of activity at the Canadian School Boards’ Association. In September the CSBA Board of Directors met in St. John’s, hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association.

The Canadian School Boards Association met recently in Wendake, Quebec for the fall Board of Directors meeting, the first since a very successful 2017 Congress in Whistler, B.C.

When he was speaking to the winners of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence, Joel Westheimer, Educa?on Columnist for the CBC, began with what he cited as the reasons we all chose to work in the field of educa?on: Fame, Power and Privilege. The extraordinary Canadian educators siGng in the room were visibly perplexed and looked side to side at one another, as if to validate “did I just hear that?”

News, being what it is, tends to focus on the sensational, scandalous, or shocking. And so it is not a surprise for our colleagues across the country or in the U.S. for that matter, that the role of public school boards is often criticized.

It’s not news, even for our colleagues in the U.S., that the role of public school boards is continually being questioned. CSBA is working on providing you with strategies from many sources that educate the public on evidence based research on the benefits of publicly elected governors of the education system.

The CSBA Board of Directors met in Montreal on October 23-24th. Sleeves were rolled up and we were ready for our short Cme together to discuss how we can support and learn from each of our jurisdictions.