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NPA's Fraser Ballantyne elected new VSB chairperson

The second NPA trustee in a row to serve as chair of the Vancouver School Board says a new tone has been set on the board. NPA trustee Fraser Ballantyne was elected chair June 24 with five votes to four for Vision Vancouver’s Patti Bacchus.

The second NPA trustee in a row to serve as chair of the Vancouver School Board says a new tone has been set on the board.

NPA trustee Fraser Ballantyne was elected chair June 24 with five votes to four for Vision Vancouver’s Patti Bacchus.

Ballantyne didn’t name NPA trustee Christopher Richardson, who served as chairperson from December until he resigned June 15 in his acceptance speech, but argued a new constructive tone had been set over the past six months.

He said trustees are working hard to ensure seismic projects move ahead.

“As we move forward it’s going to be challenging times, a lightening rod of a job and I actually like Patti’s position of shooting from the sidelines and she does a really great job,” he said. “We look forward to working closely and hard and trying to constructively put together what’s necessary for kids in Vancouver.”

Nine trustees compose the school board, four from the NPA, four from Vision Vancouver and one from the Green Party of Vancouver.

Ballantyne was nominated in a second round of voting.

In the first round of the secret ballot, he and Vision Vancouver’s Bacchus each received four votes. The Green’s Janet Fraser, a first-time trustee, received one. Trustees voted for Ballantyne or Bacchus in the second round.

“It’s been quite clear to us, really from just right after the election, that the Green trustee is far more aligned with the values of the NPA than with the Vision party,” Bacchus said after the meeting.

Before Richardson, Bacchus served as chairperson for six years.

Fraser wrote in a blog post on the Green’s website that her vote wasn’t based on aligning with a particular party, but on who she believed would best serve the board at this time.

“We have to work collaboratively and respectfully within our board, with our district stakeholders and with the provincial government and the tone that was set while Christopher was the chair, that should be continued and we should try and maintain a less adversarial interaction with the provincial government,” she told the Courier Thursday morning.

Ballantyne argued at the final school board budget meeting last year that with low enrolment, the district could have closed two elementary and three secondary schools to address its 2014-2015 budget shortfall.

Earlier this month, a report commissioned by Education Minister Peter Fassbender by EY, estimated the VSB could close up to 19 schools due to low enrolment.

So reporters wanted to know Wednesday evening whether Ballantyne still supported closing schools.

“It’s not on the table, closing schools, yet,” he said. “We’re going forward and we want to consult with community and we want to see what our staff have to say… and we want to weigh in on that as a board.”

Bacchus said she entered the contest for chairperson with mixed feelings.

“It’s going to be tough with a split board and the kinds of pressures we have coming from the province,” she said. “There’s not going to be a lot of great, exciting news to announce. There’s going to be a series of difficult decisions.”

Ballantyne was elected for the term of June 24 to Dec. 7. He was first elected trustee in 2011, and reelected in November 2014.

Fraser will continue to serve as vice-chair.

crossi@vancourier.com

@Cheryl_Rossi

Note: This story has been updated since first posted.