The Burnaby school board has a new chair.
Kristin Schnider, a first-term trustee, was acclaimed to the board's top spot at a public meeting Tuesday.
According to the board's procedural bylaw, the chair's term lasts for one year, and elections are held every November.
Schnider takes the helm from trustee Bill Brassington, a second-term member who has served in the role for the past two years.
Schnider was also acclaimed as the board's representative to the B.C. School Trustees Association.
After accepting the role of chair, Schnider thanked the chairs that had served before, including three still on the board: Brassington, and trustees Jen Mezei, Gary Wong and Larry Hayes.
"Through the leadership of these individuals, the Burnaby school district has been able to weather many storms the school district has faced over the years, such as a global pandemic, a generation of provincial underfunding and under-supported classrooms and anti- 2SLGBTQIA+ backlash after adopting one of the first SOGI school district policies in B.C.," Schnider said in her inaugural report.
She said the school district will likely face further "storms on the horizon" but she said the board and school community can and will overcome the challenges ahead if they hold true to their "values, beliefs and priorities."
First and foremost, Schnider said that means walking a path of Truth and Reconciliation.
"I graduated from high school after the last Indian Residential School closed in Canada, and yet my classes never talked about this dark history, nor did we recognize or acknowledge the intergenerational trauma that Indigenous learners and their families continue to live and endure."
Schnider said the journey towards addressing those wrongs and their consequences is still "far from complete."
She noted the board is working toward a new strategic plan, and said it would be a priority of the board during her term to "deeply listen" to the diverse voices of the Burnaby schools community while crafting that plan – and while going about its other work, including budgets, capital planning, policy development and public education advocacy.
"This is the work we all believe in, and it is the work needed to strengthen a quality public education system that is both inclusive and responsive to the needs of learners, staff and community," Schnider said.
She vowed the board would not waver on its commitments "regardless of any changes in the makeup of B.C.'s legislative assembly."
Trustee Jen Mezei was acclaimed as vice-chair Tuesday.
Brassington was acclaimed as Schnider's alternate at the BCSTA.
Trustee Peter Cech was acclaimed as the board's representative at the B.C. Public Schools Employers' Association, and Mezei was acclaimed as his alternate.
Since the last municipal elections in October 2022, all of Burnaby's trustees have been members of the the Burnaby Citizens Association, a civic party whose members are all registered with the BC NDP.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
