WESTLOCK - The ratepayers of Westlock North will elect a new trustee for the Pembina Hills School Division board this fall as two-term incumbent Jackie Comeau is retiring.
Comeau, who lives with her husband on a farm near Dapp, says she’ll miss the work and the challenge of being a trustee “but it’s time to move on.” The municipal election is slated for Oct. 18 and voters will elect single trustees to represent Westlock North, Westlock South and the Town of Westlock.
“I’m turning 60 soon and want to retire ... eight years is a good number,” said Comeau, who has two adult daughters who’ve since gone on to become educators. “I got to work with Dave Garbutt as Supt., which has been a real pleasure and the board has a really great bunch of trustees with their hearts all in the right place.”
Looking back, Comeau said the main reason she ran was her dissatisfaction with decisions that were being made at that time, specifically around the impending closure of the schools in Jarvie and Fawcett. Although the decision to amalgamate those two, along with Dapp School, to form the K-9 Pembina North Community School had basically all been done by the time she came on as a trustee, Comeau did vote to close those schools down.
She said it’s a decision which has weighed heavy on her heart since.
“In fact, I have neighbours that still won’t talk to me over this issue. But years later, I do think we made the right decision,” she stated. “I was always worried that the schools would close and students would be bussed to Westlock. By making Pembina North Community School K-9, I feel we made the best of a bad situation. PNCS has a great reputation with parents, students and community members. Talking to trustees across the province and even educators from around the globe, I have realized that rural education is taking a hit everywhere.
“More and more people are wanting to be in the cities or surrounding areas and driving through small-town Alberta and Saskatchewan it becomes very obvious. I hope that this trend will slow down a bit, but I'm not sure that it will.”
Over the last year, Comeau said she’s most proud of how all of the division’s staff stepped up to the plate to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“School boards had either zero notice, or only hours notice when decisions were made at the provincial level to close, or teach online. In fact, most of the time we found out at the exact same time as everyone else did,” she said. “There were so many unknowns and the staff just did it. The mental stress and exhaustion that they had to endure really was incredible. There were so many rules, regulations and protocols ... I have the utmost respect for all of them and can never thank them enough for everything they have done and went through over the pandemic.”
If there’s one regret Comeau has it’s the handling of the closure of the Alberta Distance Learning Centre in Barrhead. Looking back now she wonders if more could have been done to save the facility.
“I really wish the provincial government, including our local MLA, would have worked with us to keep the ADLC open,” she said. “Especially during COVID, I think it was the totally wrong decision to end funding for the facility. Rural schools in our province really need this option and now it is no longer there for them.
“I still can’t believe they did it.”
Looking to the future Comeau had some sage advice for any prospective trustees.
“Be prepared to make a lot of time and commitment to this position. I think a lot of people are shocked at how much time is involved. They also need to remember, you are but one vote. If you can’t work together with your board, your ideas and thoughts will never go forward. You need to work as a team,” she continued.
“I feel this board was very good at this and our Supt. has been absolutely incredible. He has worked tirelessly and I personally, will be very sad to see him retire, but I totally understand as I am also retiring.”
