The Greater Victoria school board is considering giving students a non-voting position on the board. We say go for it 鈥� it would bring another perspective to board meetings and for the students it would be hard to find a better civics lesson.
鈥淲e are interested in having the student voice at the table, if that鈥檚 what the students want,鈥� says board chairwoman Peg Orcherton. Trustees have asked the administration to investigate the proposal.
The concept is not new. In Ontario, legislation requires that each board have a student trustee. Student representatives have sat on that province鈥檚 70-plus school boards since the late 1990s and belong to the Ontario Student Trustees鈥� Association. The Edmonton public school board is going to try the idea 鈥� a student will be elected to the board for the 2014-15 school year.
In Vancouver, a student recently began sitting on the school board as part of a one-year pilot project.
Victoria鈥檚 foray into the idea of student representation was sparked by a motion from trustee Diane McNally, who wanted the district to follow Vancouver鈥檚 example. Her proposal would see the non-voting trustee receive an honorarium or high school credit.
Credit is an excellent idea, and it would be earned. Participating in board and committee meetings would not be an easy assignment, but a crash course in coping in the real world with its conflicts, competing interests, tangled issues and the contrariness of human nature. The experience would be far more valuable than any high school class could offer.
So often, school boards get bogged down in procedures and politics that the core purpose seems to be shoved into the background. It would be useful to have someone at the board who can pipe up with: 鈥淗ey, what about us students? Don鈥檛 forget why you鈥檙e here.鈥�
Piping up in a room full of adults would require a student with unusual confidence.
The most likely candidates would be in Grade 11 or 12 because only they would have the experience and self-possession to be able to make effective contributions. That would leave the student trustees at the added disadvantage of serving for one or, at most, two years.
Perhaps a mentoring program, where former student trustees or experienced ones in other districts could offer pointers, would help make up for the short terms.
Given that the district has six secondary schools, choosing one student representative would be a challenge. Perhaps the trustee could be chosen from among student-body presidents, but those students already have a lot on their plates. It might be better for each school to screen applicants and send a recommendation to trustees, who would make the final decision.
Those are details for the administration to consider, but the concept is a good one. The focus should not be on if it can happen, but how it will happen.
