(File photo/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

NESD Board Meeting

NESD’s board chair to temporarily look over Melfort area following Randy Ariss’ passing

Jan 21, 2020 | 5:20 PM

The North East School Division (NESD) approved its temporary plan to look over the Melfort area until the 2020 Saskatchewan School Board Elections.

Luke Perkins, the NESD’s board chair who represents subdivision 3 (Star City, Gronlid, and Choiceland), was named Melfort’s representative after the Jan. 21 board meeting following the sudden passing of board member Randy Ariss.

Ariss died at the age of 72 on Dec. 17, 2019. He was elected to the NESD Board of Education in 2016.

“Randy was a friend and a good public servant in Melfort,” Perkins said. “It’s hard to imagine from the amount of people we saw at his funeral that he had only been here a couple of years. He touched a lot of people, us included. He’s very much missed.

“We’re at a time of the year where the [byelection date would have been in] April. [The new member would] make the May meeting, June meeting, summer holidays off, and September and October. For the expense of it, we had a discussion that if everybody gave me their blessing, I’d look over Melfort. They’re big shoes to fill and I’m honoured to be able to fill Randy’s shoes.”

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NESD’s Director of Education Don Rempel said Perkins being a long-serving board member and the chairperson made him looking over Melfort the best decision for the board in face of a tragic loss.

“[Luke’s] a really strong trustee as far as being knowledgeable about the way we do things, how the board of governance works, and how some of the provincial decisions are made,” Rempel said. “He’s a dedicated trustee so I think he’ll do an excellent job representing the people of Melfort.”

The passing of Ariss and deciding not to hold a byelection leaves the NESD Board of Education with eight members, down from the 10 elected in 2016.

Todd Goudy resigned from the Board of Education in April 2018 after winning a byelection to become Melfort’s MLA a month prior. The board also elected to leave Goudy’s seat vacant until 2020 due to the cost of hosting a byelection.

If he decides to run for re-election to the Board of Education, Perkins said he’ll run for the subdivision 3 area.

Municipal and school board elections in Saskatchewan will take place on Nov. 9, 2020.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow