FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2003

Students’ success and teamwork are goals of the Board
Congratulations to Judy Edgar and Carl Pitman who were elected as chair and vice-chair, respectively, at the inaugural meeting of the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board last night.

Judy Edgar, trustee for North Hastings, put her name forth for the top position, one she has held for the past two years. As an active parent volunteer in schools before becoming a trustee in 1997 with the first Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, Judy has also served as vice-chair and has been an active member of the Operations & Finance, Suspension Appeals, and Executive committees.

“I am very grateful to my fellow trustees for placing their trust in me for another year. I am looking forward to working together as a team to continue doing the best we possibly can for our students,” remarked Judy Edgar after being declared chair of the board.

Centre Hastings trustee Carl Pitman was elected to the position of vice-chair. Carl has been a trustee with this board for six years and has served on the Operations & Finance, Program & Human Resources, Suspension Appeals, and Executive committees. He is also the board’s representative to the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association as a director. Within his home community of Stirling, Carl has been a volunteer firefighter for 39 years and deputy fire chief for the past 25 years, as well as being a charter member of and twice past president for the Stirling & District Lion’s Club. He has been involved with Boy Scouts at the local, provincial and national levels for the past 30+ years.

“I appreciate the opportunity to work with my fellow trustees, administration, other board staff and parents to enable our students to achieve their goals and succeed,” said Carl Pitman upon being elected as vice-chair.

Elections for chair and vice-chair take place each year at the inaugural meeting of the board of trustees. At the same meeting, trustee membership on various committees for 2004 is approved. The committees are: Operations & Finance, Program & Human Resources, Executive, Special Education Advisory, Suspension Appeals, Expulsion, Supervised Alternative Learning for Excused Pupils, and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association.

The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board has 54 schools serving 18,700 students, employing 1,067 teachers and 775 support staff. The Board covers a wide geographical area of 7,221 square kilometres bordered by Maynooth to the north, Deseronto to the east, Prince Edward County to the south, and Quinte West to the west.

For information, contact:
• Judy Edgar, Chair of the Board, (613) 921-3203
• Carl Pitman, Vice-Chair, (613) 395-3090