The newly elected board of trustees of Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) took their Oath of Office Tuesday evening during the board's reorganization meeting.
    
Incumbent Trustee Leah Klassen was acclaimed as board chair during the voting process, and fellow incumbent John Klassen was elected vice-chair. 

"To be elected from a group is an honour," said Leah Klassen. "And I think John being vice-chair will be a great balance. He has a lot of experience in being a vice-chair, so I'm sure he will give me guidance and we together look forward to having a great team coming up to the school year."
    
The board consists of five new trustees and four incumbents following October's civic election. Klassen says the incoming trustees are excited to be around the table, which is fantastic and refreshing.

“I've had conversations with most of them in regards to where they feel led to serve. And it's super exciting, they come in with a servant's heart, and they want what's best for the division. And it's nice when you have the new people around the table because they ask the questions that maybe some of the incumbents, some of us that have been there a little longer, we just do based on the fact that we've always done. And to have those questions and be curious about the process is going to be fantastic."

GVSD Board Chair Leah KlassenGVSD Board Chair Leah Klassen

Rounding out the GVSD Board of Trustees are Ward 2 Rural Trustees Michael Rempel, Heather DiFrancesco, and Mandy Thiessen. They join Ward 1 City of Winkler trustees, incumbents Deanna Wilson & Tena Lane, and newcomers Phillip Unruh and Pamela Hiebert.

Klassen says next up for trustees will be to hold Standing Committee meetings at the beginning of December. 

"The next big thing though for the board is setting the Strategic Plan. So after an election, there's a big strategic planning session that happens in January, so that'll be the next big thing is to set the direction for the next four years for the school division."

In addition to his role as board Vice-Chair, John Klassen will also chair the Education Committee, while trustee Tena Lane will chair the Education Committee, and Deanna Wilson will head up the Policy Committee.