Low voter turnout is a common issue in many democracies, after all, how can the will of the people be enacted if nobody shows up to vote? But what happens when candidates fail to show up as well? That’s been the case in Alberta’s School Board Trustee elections for a while now, with the previous election in 2021 seeing 207 out of 421 trustees being elected by acclamation (they ran unopposed) while a further six seats remained vacant after the election.
Despite the low numbers, we don’t hear a lot about this being an issue that demands our attention. But school boards play an important role in shaping education in our communities, so what can we do about it? Well, vote, of course. But before voting, we need to be informed. We sat down with two ARTA members, Craig Whitehead and Blair Lowry, who have been serving as school board trustees in their communities for many years now, to find out what it takes to be a trustee, and why we might want to pay more attention to this race.
A School Board Trustee’s Role
Craig, serving in Lethbridge, and Blair, serving in Taber, are part of a system with a long legacy. Trustees have been around since the very beginning of public education in Alberta, with their role enshrined in the Education Act of 1905. According to the Act, elected trustees like Craig and Blair are to provide local oversight of their school board, ensuring both that provincial education mandates are being met, but also ensuring that the community’s unique needs are being represented. The idea is that a local board is better able to connect with their community and set direction for the schools in their care than a centralized authority would be able to.
“We take the funding that is available from the government, and it’s our responsibility to ensure the students are getting the best bang for their buck,” says Craig. “There’s never really enough money, or at least, as not as much as is needed, so it’s always tough, but I feel we’re able to do a good job.” Craig and Blair’s first concern is to do right by the students in their district, and secondly, they try to do right by the school staff. It’s true that a central administrator or government office could make these financial decisions, that’s the case in some provinces. But trustees are required, through the election process and beyond, to go out and consult in their communities. They need to know what students and teachers require, and in a perfect world, that makes them more responsible stewards of the budget and more effective leaders.
Who Makes a Good Trustee?
Craig and Blair are both retired teachers, and that certainly gives them good insight into the education systems that they are managing as trustees. But both believe that effective school boards need more than teachers. “There are a lot of retired teachers across the province who work as trustees,” Blair says. “But in a perfect world, you want your trustees to be a sampling of your whole community. You need people who can think outside the box, people who can bring a different set of skills, people who can challenge the status quo. It isn’t a healthy situation to have a board made exclusively of retired teachers.”
It makes sense when you think about it. Trustees aren’t elected to manage existing processes; they’re elected to represent the voice of the community in education. Classroom experience is not as important as the ability to connect with students, parents, and teachers, and make responsible decisions on their behalf.
“If you don’t have any experience in schools, it’s easy to get some,” adds Craig. “Go to school council meetings, sporting events, concerts, plays, and graduations. Talk to the people there. You’ll see how things work pretty quickly, and where there are areas for you to make a difference.”
While Craig and Blair encourage people to serve their communities as trustees, they stress it’s an important job that needs to be taken seriously, it’s not a casual volunteer opportunity you can do in your free time.
How to Vote for A Trustee
If you’re not interested in running for a trustee position, you should still pay attention to the race to know who to vote for. But how? Trustee candidates don’t get very much news coverage. Blair and Craig recommend checking social media, checking your school board websites, and talking to other people in your community to hear what they’ve heard about the candidates.
“The nice thing about our system is that even if a ‘bad’ trustee gets in, someone who isn’t engaged or who isn’t aligned with the wishes of the community, they only represent one vote,” says Blair. “But even that is rare. In my community, we talk so much about the issues that by the time we’re ready to vote, everyone is usually on the same page.”
Craig adds, “Trustee votes aren’t anonymous. Your community can see your voting record, and if you are voting against their interests, you’re going to hear about it.”
The 2025 Elections
In provinces like Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, the position of School Board Trustee has been abolished for the most part, with centralized authorities taking on their responsibilities. The reasons? Cost savings played a part certainly, but low-voter turnout was also a crucial factor. If we don’t use our voice, we could lose the opportunity to do so.
In Alberta, elections for school board trustees take place on October 20, 2025. If you’re interested in running for a trustee position in your community, you have until September 22, 2025, to submit your nomination form. For more information on how to register yourself as a candidate, you can visit alberta.ca/school-board-elections.