ETSB says welcome back

General Éric Campbell explained that the earliest possible date for the by-election was Sunday, Oct.29.

Campbell added that candidacies will be accepted between Sept.19-24.

The board adopted a motion to form the James Strickland Fund, named after the Lennoxville community member who passed away in 2016.

Strickland left an endowment of over $160,000 to the ETSB, to be used for meal programs for underprivileged students in elementary schools.

A number of administrative appointments were approved during Tuesday’s meeting; David Scott was appointed Principal (50 per cent) at Mansonville Elementary and Vice-principal (50 per cent) at Massey-vanier High School (MVHS).

Diane Sherrer-voky was appointed Vice-principal (100 per cent) at MVHS.

Gail Kelso was named Director of Complementary Services.

During his report, Director General Christian Provencher welcomed back the more than 5,100 students returning to ETSB schools, pointing out that over 450 will be starting in kindergarten.

“It is a very busy and exciting time of year,” Provencher said.

During the summer, Provencher participated in the Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie. He cycled 135 km, raising $950 that will go towards physical education at Sherbrooke Elementary, the school he paired up with for the biking challenge.

During the meeting, Chairman Mike Murray, the board’s representative for the Quebec English School Board Association (QESBA), reminded the commissioners that the QESBA executive director had left the organization in the spring and had not been replaced.

Murray said QESBA was considering paying $66,000 for a consultant program to come up with a strategic plan, an idea for which he voiced his disapproval.

“To me it sounds like an association that has lost its way and is looking for a purpose,” Murray said, suggesting QESBA members should be able to deal with internal issues without having to hire a consultant.

Recruiting a new executive director has been suspended for the time being, Murray said.

Parent commissioner Paul Laberge asked how much the board pays in fees to be a member of QESBA.

Murray couldn’t remember the figure exactly, estimating it is between $3035,000. The fees are levied on a per-student basis, he explained.