New faces and new ideas will be at the table after the results of the Catholic and public school trustee elections rolled in Monday night.
St. Albert Public Schools will see three new faces on its school board, with Glenys Edwards, Sheri Wright and Kim Bugeaud joining incumbents Cheryl Dumont and Gerry Martins.
Edwards, a retired teacher, was the most popular amongst voters with 6,134 votes.
"It's a big responsibility to be a trustee and I am thrilled to be able to take on that challenge," she said, adding that her campaign focused on door-knocking.
"We felt like we were working hard without really knowing what the impact would be, but I was very happy to know that people in St. Albert are very aware of the work trustees do."
Incumbent Gerry Martins (5,223) said he is pleased with election results.
"I think that we have a good cross-section of members, some from education and some from business … I'm looking forward to working with them."
Catholic board
For Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, voters brought back Joan Crockett, Dave Caron, Rosaleen McEvoy and welcomed newcomer Serena Shaw.
Joan Crockett, past vice-chair of the board and the most popular amongst voters with 3,786 votes, said she looks forward to getting some good work done with the new board.
One of her main goals this year is to bring on a non-voting student representative to weigh in on board decisions.
"To have a perspective from the crossfield and see what students are facing whether it's academically, socially or emotionally," said Crockett. "I think it's something new and we will all benefit from having that student voice."
Long time trustee Dave Caron (3,727) said he was humbled to be re-elected. His focus this year is on the finances.
"I very much want to continue to push hard with government on special education funding," Caron explained, adding that partnering with other school districts in transportation might be an area where "we can squeeze further dollars out of to get into the classrooms."
Other divisions
According to unofficial results provided to the Gazette by Sturgeon School Division returning officer Iva Paulik, longtime board trustee Terry Jewell won the Division 7 race with 350 votes over opponent Daryl Krieger who had 250 votes. Div. 7 is near Fort Saskatchewan.
In the Greater North Central Francophone Division, Ronald St. John was acclaimed for the St. Albert/Legal area. A month ago, St. John was poised to run against Phillip Burrows, but returning officer Gerard Bissionette confirmed Tuesday Burrows withdrew his nomination.
