Longtime BSD trustee Sumner moving to B.C.

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This article was published 24/07/2019 (2332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon School Division trustee Kevan Sumner will be leaving his position of nine years at the end of August, a decision he said was spurred by an impending move to British Columbia.

Sumner has accepted a job in Dawson Creek as general manager of development services for the Peace River Regional District. Making the move was a hard decision, he said, but will be a new professional opportunity.

“When I made my decision to run last year, this wasn’t onto radar at all. I thought I was making a firm commitment to four more years in Brandon, and I wasn’t really looking for a job. This one came out of the blue.”

He said he hasn’t nailed down an exact date yet when he will leave his position, but the intention is to move to British Columbia in September.

Sumner was first elected as a school division trustee in 2010 and was re-elected for a third term in the Oct. 24, 2018 election. Looking back, he said one of the most rewarding things about the job has been watching the school division grow.

“Programs like the Neelin off-campus high school, which recently became its own high school — when I was first elected, that was very much in its early days and it has been incredible to watch that grow. It’s been incredible to see a new school get announced that we worked towards for many years.”

He said he is also proud of the division’s work on improving education outcomes for students, including for Indigenous students.

With Maryland Park School set to open its doors to students beginning in the 2020-21 school year, Sumner said he hopes to see the division stay the course and continue to grow over the next nine years.

“The population is continuing to grow. The new school will accommodate probably three years of enrolment growth, and then we’ll use all of that extra space, so I’m hoping there will be more construction announcements in the future.”

While there are some things Sumner said he would have liked to see move faster, he is happy overall with where the division went during his time as a trustee.

“I’m really pleased with the progress of the division. It was a hard choice to make accepting this position I’ve taken in (British Columbia) and I would have loved to have been here for another nine years to see things continue to grow.”

He hopes an active parent will run to replace his position in the school division. He said there are great leaders on parent councils who have children actively enrolled in Brandon schools and could step into the job.

When Sumner officially resigns from his position, it will trigger a byelection. Linda Ross, chair of the school division, said a byelection has not been scheduled, yet, but should happen shortly after the position is officially vacant. She said the division does not want to operate short-handed for very long as there are still more than three years left in the term.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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