October 1, 2025

On the Brink of Change: Muncipal Elections on the Horizon

It’s official. We have just 20 days left until the Municipal Election on Oct. 20, 2025. For many boards across the province, we’re on the brink of substantial change—welcoming several new trustees into our boardrooms.

And for trustees who have been with their school divisions for many years—like myself—it’s our responsibility to provide guidance and onboard these individuals in how boards govern public school education.

But now we also find ourselves having to say goodbye to trustees finishing out their terms and not running in the next election cycle. I’d like to take a moment to sincerely thank you all for the work you’ve done in the name of public school education. As a trustee myself, I know the struggles we’ve faced and the uphill battle we fight. But I know that it’s all for the future of our children, for the future of our communities and for the future of our province.

And that leads me to another farewell I have to say—my own. After October 20, I’ll complete my term as President of the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta. I’m grateful to have been in the position for so long, for the connections I made and for the work I was able to do in advocating for public school education. It’s been a pleasure to be a president of an association that feels less like a network, and more like a family.

To each and every member, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the years we’ve shared. These moments have been some of the most challenging, and yet utterly rewarding times of my life.

And now the torch is available to you. If you have the capacity, if you have the drive, if you have the need to advocate for public school education on a provincial level, please consider running for the Association’s Board of Directors. We need voices like yours to continue this important work.

Dennis MacNeil