By Jessalyn Randall
Janel Yu, a 16-year-old student at Lisgar Collegiate Institute, spends 40 hours a month attending school board meetings, not because she’s eager to learn, but because it’s her job as a student trustee.
Yu, who is one of three student trustees on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board this year, says the position is valuable for both her and the board.
“I think (the board) really considers our opinion,” she says, adding she gives input at any time, and on any issue.
The job of a student trustee is to represent student issues and concerns by attending all school board meetings and reporting back to the students.
The only meetings student trustees can’t attend are those which are in-camera, because they involve matters where a full public discussion wouldn’t be appropriate, says school board chair Albert Chambers.
“Because students are not elected and not considered to be full trustees under the Education Act, they are not permitted into these meetings,” he says.
Not being elected also means the students trustees aren’t allowed to vote. But Chambers says even though they can’t vote, the student trustees do have a voice, and they often represent the school board at conferences.
“All three student trustees are making a positive contribution,” he says.
While regular trustees receive a $5,000 annual honorarium, Yu and the two other student trustees aren’t paid for their work. Chambers says the board hasn’t yet discussed paying them.
Although the Ottawa Board of Education had student trustees before the school boards amalgamated, this is only the second year the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has had them.
Yu says she isn’t bothered by the fact that she doesn’t have a vote. “I’m really glad I found out about the job because I’m learning so much,” she says. “The fact that there is the position of student trustee does give us the opportunity to have a say.”
Yu became student trustee after being nominated by her school. Her nomination then went to the Students’ Presidents Council, a board made up of the presidents of all the school councils in the district.
Only three students were nominated, so all three became trustees. Now, the student trustees use the council to gather feedback.
Lisgar student Rosemary Mosco says that Yu makes a positive contribution to the school, and is widely known. “She helps out a lot at school, but not really as a student trustee,” she says.
This year, the student trustees split up the committee meetings, so each student would be able to specialize.
Yu is responsible for the education and special education committees. She says this division gives her a better understanding of how she might be able to help.
Overall, Yu says being a student trustee gives her a wider perspective of education.
“There are so many other people that belong to the community to make the school happen,” she says. “The learning process goes way beyond the school.”