REGINA – The 27 member boards of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association chose Jaimie Smith-Windsor as the new President of the organization during the SSBA’s Annual General Meeting this week.
Smith-Windsor, who had previously served on the SSBA Executive as Central Constituency Representative and Vice President, was acclaimed. Shawn Davidson will continue serving on the Executive, as Vice-President.
Smith-Windsor is in her fourth term serving as a trustee on the Saskatchewan Rivers Board of Education and is a champion for local voice in publicly funded education.
“Boards play a critical role in shaping education through democratic, student-centered and non-partisan leadership,” she said, noting she values the unified advocacy of public, Catholic, Indigenous, francophone, northern, urban and rural boards of education in addressing important issues arising in Saskatchewan education.
“We need to continually amplify the work of locally elected and autonomous boards of education,” she added.
Smith-Windsor, who lives in the Resort Village of Elk Ridge with her partner and three teenagers, is committed to reconciliation and supporting Indigenous education and trusteeship. She aspires to high-performance and ethical governance and upholding core values of excellence, respect for diversity and achievement for all students.
“We need to advocate for the kind of investment in education that enables innovation,” Smith-Windsor said. “Our students’ needs are diverse. They deserve our very best efforts to secure the resources they need to thrive.”
A business owner with 19 years of experience in the construction industry, Smith-Windsor holds a graduate degree in Political Science, has held teaching and research positions and is a published scholar.
The SSBA Provincial Executive members are all school board trustees. Representatives for the SSBA’s seven constituencies are chosen by the constituency members. All 27 school boards in the province are eligible to vote for the SSBA President and Vice-President. A number of other Executive members were returned during the AGM.
Along with Smith-Windsor and Davidson, the 2022-23 Executive includes constituency representatives Jerome Niezgoda (Catholic), Christine Gradin (Central), Élizabeth Perreault (Conseil scolaire Fransaskois), Kimberly Greyeyes (Indigenous), Nathan Favel (Northern), Robert Bachmann (Southern) and Donna Banks (Urban Public).
The Executive advocates with a unified, province-wide voice on matters identified as important by the membership, promotes the important work of boards in improving outcomes for all students and builds relationships with key partners and stakeholders to ensure views of boards are represented.