School District says City of Prince Rupert to review trustee by-election issue

The long running quest to try and fill a vacant School District 52 Board of Trustees position is going to stretch into May and perhaps beyond, with the School District noting that the issue is now back in the hands of the City of Prince Rupert to review.

The SD52 Board has been operating one trustee short since the fall of 2015, when Judy Carlick-Pearson tendered her resignation from the elected body.

That decision set in motion what appears to be a long running discussion between the School District and the City as to how to best conduct a by-election to fill the open spot, a conversation that after six months has failed to find some common ground and provide the voting opportunity that would bring the board back to its required level of participation.

Since the City first introduced it's plan of approach in February, the School District has expressed its concerns with the cost estimated at 33,000 dollars, as well as the concept of contracting out the process that the City had in mind when it comes to hosting the required by-election to till the vacant post.

In a short notice as part of their overview of the May 10th SD52 Board meeting, Board officials noted the status of the by-election issue, advising the public that the topic of the by-elction, as well as a number of other issues between the two groups made for the discussion of joint meeting in late April.

SD52 officials note that the city is now reviewing its proposal for the by-election and will report back to the Board following that review.

With the delay in providing for a replacement for Ms. Carlick-Pearson, the School District has had to make a number of key decisions on a range of issues without the benefit of its full complement of representation for the community.

You can review some of the notes of the past related to the by-election issue below.

2016

April 18 -- SD52 to hold toaks with City of Prince Rupert on by-election concerns and other issues
February 17 -- SD52 not impressed with City's by-election plans and cost
February 9 -- Council set to approve Electoral Officers, set in motion SD52 by-election process
January 29 -- Plans in motion to move forward with School District 52 by-election
January 18 -- School District 52 to seek counsel of Ministry of Education over City's by-election delay

2015

December 11-- SD52 and City of Prince Rupert wo work towards Board of Education By-election
November 19 -- Judy Carlick-Pearson steps down from School District 52 Board

For more items related to School District 52 issues see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review