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SECPSD board's Estevan trustees looking forward to the next term

The two Estevan trustees for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division’s board were elected by acclamation. While Eric McCrimmon and Kevin Keating were the only two who filed their nominations by the Oct.
Eric McCrimmon, left, and Kevin Keating
Kevin Keating, left, and Eric McCrimmon

The two Estevan trustees for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division’s board were elected by acclamation.

While Eric McCrimmon and Kevin Keating were the only two who filed their nominations by the Oct. 7 deadline, Keating thought that a third person was running and both candidates were ready to put in efforts if it was needed. 

 "People have a democratic vote for people to represent them. I was encouraging people to get more involved. It's certainly easier that I'm elected by acclamation in terms of the time that I would spend beginning to get involved, but I don't take it as I don't have to do anything for the next four years. I fully intend to use this as an opportunity to get much more involved in the community," said McCrimmon.

McCrimmon is fairly new to Estevan, but he has always been engaged with communities he's lived in, so for him taking an active role was a natural move.

"I decided to run because I moved to Estevan in January, and I've always been involved in the communities that I'm in," McCrimmon said.

McCrimmon grew up in Meadow Lake, where he acquired his first experience of getting involved through high school activities and organizations. Then he moved to Saskatoon for university, where he was a part of various university clubs and other organizations as well and set on the board of Saskatoon food bank and learning centre.

"Becoming a school board trustee seemed like the next step for me. I wanted to get involved that way and things worked out well," McCrimmon added.

McCrimmon praised SECPSD for "forward thinking" that they had in regards to starting their online school Cyber Stone, which happened years before the pandemic and proved its value even more recently.

 "I just want to keep that same forward thinking," McCrimmon said.

McCrimmon works as a federal public servant in North Portal.

Keating has been on the board for 11 years and he recently moved to Estevan. He was previously the trustee for Subdivision 4, which includes Bienfait, Lampman, Alameda and Oxbow.

"It was just a matter of changing positions," said Keating. "For the last 11 years I've always been on the board and I definitely want to continue with that."

He added that one of the main reasons for him to put his nomination in was that he wanted to keep being a part of long-term planning for the renovation of the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) and the eventual construction of a new school.

He said that he is also looking forward to seeing the completion of the new elementary school in Weyburn.

Keating was the maintenance supervisor for SECPSD before he retired and ran for the school board.

"I knew a lot of people in the system, as well as what buildings were like and problems that were out there. This was one of the main reasons for running for 11 years," Keating said.

Now, that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected a lot of things in school operations, Keating said that his goal as a trustee to do his best to keep on top of the changes and challenges.