PRINCE ALBERT — A third trustee representing Prince Albert on the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division Board of Education has decided to not run for another term.
At the board of education’s regular meeting on Monday, Michelle Vickers, who was first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020 announced her decision to not seek another term.
Vickers said that a few factors entered into her decision, one was earlier meeting times in recent years. Vickers, who is a Doctor of Optometry by trade, found the change in times difficult to deal with
"It just became more difficult to be able to be away from the office as much as I was, especially with how busy we've been here,” Vickers said.
“It's a little bit different when you're working than if you're retired, so that was that was one of the big factors,” she added.
Vickers explained that school board governance has changed and become more partisan when it should be non-partisan. She said it was not partisanship at the board table but more partisan noise around the province.
"Whether it's public opinion or pressure from wherever, that also gets tougher to deal with as things go on, and being somebody who's essentially, self-employed, taking that risk on and dealing with the partisanship of things becomes a little bit riskier,” she said.
"I think it hasn't really hit us too much in Prince Albert, but I think when you look in other jurisdictions and what's happened Regina, Lloydminster or things like that, and then when you also have a business, it does have the potential to affect your bottom line. As things get increasingly more so like that, it's ‘is it worth the risk?’”
Vickers said that all of her best experiences involved stakeholders in the division. This included the Saskatchewan Rivers Students for Change, whose committee she served on in both terms.
She enjoyed hearing their feedback and said it showed her how board decisions directly impact students.
"That was one of the big ones, and with that, we won the Premier’s Award with the SSBA for that very group,” she said.
The SRSC won the Premier’s Board of Education Award for Innovation and Excellence in Education in 2019.
Another group or committee in the division she enjoyed working with is the Elder’s Council, which is part of the Indigenous engagement in the division and meets with the board seasonally.
"I enjoyed sitting and talking through things and the learning opportunities that it provided,” Vickers said. “It's a priceless experience getting to sit and learn from the Elders.”
The third was working with School Community Councils (SCCs) and connecting with parents. She highlighted the SCCs at PACI, Westview and Spruce Home when she was the board representative for those schools.
“Getting to sit with their parents and talk through things and listen to their concerns and things like that and try and discuss the reasoning behind it was another really good thing,” she said.
All her best experiences were exposure to people affected by decisions made by the board of education.
"I think that's one really important aspect of what we do and how we come to the decisions that we make,” Vickers said.
She said not every decision is easy, but these kind of interactions let her know the decisions were correct.
“I think it also gives another Avenue to have those difficult conversations when decisions have to be made that aren't popular,” Vickers said.
Vickers is one of three trustees who will not run for re-election. Grant Gustafson and former Chair Barry Hollick who also represented Prince Albert, have said they will not run.
Vickers said it’s a great time for renewal on the board.
“I think for myself I have a different experience than lots of the other board does,” Vickers said. “I think having that diverse perspective and diverse experiences is really important.”
The municipal election is scheduled for Nov. 13.
