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North Vancouver school board selects new chair

North Van trustees' vote for Barry Forward signals new direction
school board
Newly elected North Vancouver school board chair Barry Forward.

There's been a shift in the balance of power at the North Vancouver school board, as trustee Barry Forward has been elected the new board chairman.

Forward was elected by secret ballot at the inaugural board meeting on Dec. 8 after being nominated by newcomer Jessica Stanley. Former chairwoman Franci Stratton nominated Cyndi Gerlach for the position.

Rookie trustee Megan Higgins will serve as vice-chairwoman for the next year following a second secret ballot vote. Four-term trustee Susan Skinner nominated Higgins while veteran Christine Sacré nominated Gerlach a second time.

"From my perspective, we had an election and there was a change. We had two new trustees come on and there was obviously a little bit of change on the board," Forward said the day after the meeting.

Forward said his top priority for the board will be seeing that the province follows through on its portion of funding for the rebuild of Argyle secondary. So far, the district has sold Ridgeway Annex, Monteray elementary and the Keith Lynn alternative secondary to shore up its $9-million share of the $49-million rebuild of Argyle secondary.

"It's really now in the provincial government's hands. We have done our work. We've made some really difficult decisions in the past with respect to putting some properties up for sale. That was what we were asked for," he said.

As for the sale of other school lands, Forward said the new board will likely be revisiting the plans for Lucas Centre and Cloverley in the next term.

In April, the board went public with a series of potential concepts for the properties, which ranged from single-family homes to midrises, and in once case, a highrise tower on the Lucas site, along with varying degrees of preserved greenspace and sports fields. "While some things have been put in motion, I think it's a wonderful opportunity to take a step back from this, listen to the community again and really take heart in what these properties mean to the North Shore. We have a big job on stewardship of these," Forward said, noting everyone heard "loud and clear" during the election that they were important pieces of community land. "Something has to move forward on these (sites). The question is what is that going to look like? Is that going to be leasing them, repurposing them or evaluating them for other community uses, which is the discussion some of the trustees have asked for."

Skinner, Higgins and Forward all told the North Shore News they were against selling school lands to pay for capital costs. Stanley said she was "generally not in favour" of it unless there was community support.

The newly-elected school board chairman said he will also be working to ensure the board renews its relationship with North Vancouver teachers in the wake of the year of labour strife and job action.

"We've had a tough, tough few months back into the summer," he said. "Our No. 1 employee group is our teachers and we want them to be working with us and have that relationship be one of excellence."