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About School Boards

School Board Elections

On Becoming A School Trustee

Elections for the office of school trustee are held every four years, in conjunction with municipal elections, on the fourth Wednesday in October.

School board elections are governed by The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act. Any differences between the conduct of school board and municipal elections are the result of specific provisions in The Public Schools Act, which is the provincial legislation that governs school board operations.

Qualifications

Section 22 of The Public Schools Act outlines the qualifications of a candidate for the office of school trustee.

A person is qualified to be nominated for and elected as a trustee of a school board, if the person

(a) is a Canadian citizen;
(b) is of the full age of 18 years, or will be at the date of the election;
(c) is an actual resident in the school division or school district, and will have been so for a period of at least six months at the date of the election; and
(d) is not disqualified under any other provision of this Act or under any other Act, and is not otherwise by law prohibited from being a trustee or from voting at elections in the school division or school district.

Section 22(2) of The Public Schools Act specifies certain individuals who may not be nominated or serve as trustee. These are:

(a) members of the Legislative Assembly or the Senate or House of Commons of Canada;
(b) members of the council of a municipality;
(c) pupils in regular attendance at a school within the same school division or district.

Candidates for school board office must actually reside in the school division or district for which they are seeking election; they are not eligible for office if they are non-resident property-owners or rate-payers. However, individuals do not need to be residents of the
specific ward in which they wish to run, as long as they do reside within the division or district as a whole.

An employee may run for and serve as a trustee in the division or district where he or she is employed, providing that he or she takes a leave of absence from their employment while serving. This unpaid leave must be granted by the division or district, for a period
of time not exceeding five years.

Once elected, school trustees will normally hold office until the expiration of their term, at which time they must decide whether to seek re-election. There are, however, circumstances in which a trustee’s seat can be declared vacant. These are outlined in Section
39.8 of The Public Schools Act.

A school board of a school division or school district shall declare a seat vacant and… order an election to fill that seat when the trustee elected to that seat:

(a) is deceased; or
(b) has submitted a resignation in writing to the secretary-treasurer of the school division or school district; or
(c) has failed to attend three consecutive regular meetings of the school board without authorization of the school board by resolution recorded in the minutes; or
(d) has been disqualified from holding office under this Act; or
(e) ceases to be a resident of the school division or school district.

If potential candidates for office doubt their ability to attend meetings on a regular basis (usually a minimum of twice a month), or if they plan to move beyond the boundaries of their school division or district in the immediate future, they may want to reconsider their decision to run for office.

Under Section 39.6(1) of The Public Schools Act, a trustee will also be disqualified from holding office if he or she:
(a) violates any provision of The Public Schools Act; or
(b) is convicted of

(i) an offence punishable by imprisonment of five years or more, or
(ii) an offence under section 122 (breach of trust by public officer), 124 (selling or purchasing office) or 125 (influencing or negotiating
appointments or dealings in office) of the Criminal Code (Canada).

When a trustee is disqualified under this section, he or she remains disqualified from being nominated, elected, or appointed as a trustee for four years from the day he or she is first disqualified.