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2025 Election Information

Elevate Education by Becoming a School Board Trustee!

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! Investing in our children and meeting their educational goals equates to successful for all of us and our future. Our children need passionate and dedicated people who advocate for all the children in our care. School Board Trustees have a vital role in providing leadership and guidance to the school division by defining the vision, mission, and operational expectations on behalf of their stakeholders and communities.

School Board Trustees are elected during local municipal elections every four years; the next Election Day October 20, 2025.

IMPORTANT DATES

Nomination period opens: January 1, 2025

Nomination period closes: September 22, 2025 

Election day: October 20, 2025

Step One: What does a School Board Trustee do?

School Board Trustees belong to the Alberta School Boards’ Association (ASBA) where you can find invaluable information on the roles and responsibilities as a school board trustee in their Handbook. We encourage people to visit the ASBA’s website which provides some insight into the expectations of a trustee.  Other good resources to check out include

Step Two: What does it mean to be a School Board Trustee for Grande Yellowhead?

Our Trustees work very hard to build strong partnerships with parents and other stakeholders including other elected officials, to ensure that all children are provided the best educational opportunities to become the future citizens that we all envision. One Trustee is elected to each of the five areas/wards in the Division. It’s important to note that Trustees do not represent any one school, neighbourhood or community. Rather, they make decisions based on the needs of the entire Division. 

We have put together a list that may be of particular interest to new candidates but we also encourage you to visit the Board page on our website to learn more:

Policy development is under the purview of the Board of Trustees. You can view all of the current policies of the Division on our website.

Step Three: What is the time commitment as a School Board Trustee?

The Board sets an Annual Work Plan that serves as a guide for monthly activities for trustees or the board as a whole.  While the monthly list of activities in the Annual Work Plan is not all inclusive of the responsibilities that fall to the Board, it serves as a guide for activities that regularly occur in the months of September 1 through August 31.

The Board generally meets at the Education Services Centre in Edson once a month during the school year for scheduled Public Board Meetings (PBM). These meetings generally last all day. All agenda packages are posted on the Monday prior to the meeting. All these meetings are open to the public to attend so please feel free to join the current Board at any time during these meetings. PS – for a quick version of what happens at the meetings, we also post Board Briefs.

Trustees do a fair amount of travel as they are also expected to attend meetings outside of the division as our Division’s advocate at provincial and national meetings and conferences. They are also highly encouraged to attend local school activities and celebrations.

To carry out its mandate on local governance of education, the Board may delegate some of its functions to a Committee of the Board. Trustees are encouraged to join a variety of committees over their term.

One of the Board's priorities is Community Engagement and hosts a number of different stakeholder events to ensure that they hear from their stakeholders on issues important to them.

Step Four: This Role is For Me! ... How Do I Get Started?

Great to hear!

First, you need to determine if you qualify to run. A person may be nominated as a candidate if, on nomination day, the person:

  • is eligible to vote in the election;
  • has been a resident of the local jurisdiction and the ward for the six consecutive months immediately preceding nomination day, and;
  • is not otherwise ineligible or disqualified.

Note: these are general guidelines, candidates should refer to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Education Act for complete information. These Acts are available on the Alberta Queen's Printer website.

Next, where do you reside? Grande Yellowhead Public School Division is divided into three electoral wards or boundaries. Except for Hinton and Edson which have two trustees elected, each ward has a school trustee that has been elected by the citizens within the boundaries of that ward. Candidates are invited to run in the following areas:

WARD 1         
o Sub-Division #1 (Hinton and Area)
o Sub-Division #2 (Edson and Area, including Fulham)
o Sub-Division #3 (Lobstick Area – Niton Junction, Wildwood and Evansburg)           
WARD 2       Grande Cache
WARD 3       Jasper
Find here a map of the Division to determine what ward you reside in.

Good to go? Nominations open January 1, 2025, and run until September 22, 2025.

Here are the steps you need to take:

  1. Fill out your PDF fillable Nomination Form. NOTE: Because this is a government legislated form and of its security features, you can only view the form in Internet Explorer - not in Chrome. You may need to right click the form to open if you are using an older Windows version. You need a minimum of ten (10) electors to sign your nomination form. 
  2. Save and then print the form, and then return it during the nomination period from January 6, 2025, from 8-noon and 1-4pm, at our Education Services Centre Office at 3656 1 Avenue, Edson, until noon on September 22,2025.
  3. Recent bylaws require that all candidates for the 2025 Election must include
    • a $100 deposit, and;
    • a criminal record check within the last 30 calendar days from the RCMP with their nomination form.
      • Note: The Alberta government initiated amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act through the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, which came into force on Oct. 31, 2024. One of the amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act provides elected authorities the opportunity to consider requiring candidates to provide a criminal record check as part of their nomination papers.

Once your nomination form has been officially accepted, you are now ready to hit the campaign trail to talk about how you can help make a difference in the lives of children in your community.

Election Day is Monday, October 20, 2025, and more information including polling stations in the various communities within our boundaries will also be posted closer to Election Day.

Step Five: Last Helpful Hint for our Future Trustees

We have put together a helpful New Candidate Handbook that outlines a lot more information for you to learn about trusteeship. You can also contact us to arrange for a hard copy to be mailed to you or picked up at our Education Services Centre in Edson. We also encourage prospective candidates to contact Jun Lin, Secretary Treasurer, by email at junlin@gypsd.ca or at 1.780.723.4471 or 1.800.723.2564 if you still have some questions.

Good luck!