The three women who put their names forward for the position of trustee for St. Albert Protestant School Board will need to get the voters out if they hope to win the byelection slated for December 5.
“At the last byelection, held June 25, 2003, there were 442 voters,” said Michael Brenneis, associate Superintendant of finance for the Protestant School Board.
The nominees for the election are former trustees Kim Bugeaud and Judy Huisman and retired teacher Merrin Nuc.
Of the three, Bugeaud was the one who missed the Gazette interviews last Thursday because she was working at the Misericordia Hospital where she is employed as a social worker.
Bugeaud, 50, was a trustee between 1995 and 1998.
“At that time I had children in the system,” she said, adding that one of the main initiatives of the school board she served on was to establish many of the policies which the Protestant School Board is currently re-evaluating.
“It was an exciting time because at that time there were suggestions that kindergarten funding should be cut. I became interested in policy development then,” she said.
Bugeaud explained that although her children are now grown, she’s never lost her passion for or interest in the education system.
“I’m not a teacher or an educator, but I believe I have something to offer by representing the broader perspective of the community, the taxpayers,” she said.
As for getting the voters out, each of the nominees has planned a word-of-mouth campaign that involves lots of telephoning and Internet messaging.
The advance vote for the position of trustee will be Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 4 to 8 p.m. The regular poll is Monday, Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Both votes take place at the district office at 60 Sir Winston Churchill Avenue.
