Ashley St. Pierre from the Near North District School Board (NNDSB) made history last week by becoming the first Indigenous Board Chair for an Ontario school.
The board voted for a new chair at a meeting on May 14 after the unexpected resignation of former Board Chair Erika Lougheed. In addition to her new role, St. Pierre was elected as the Indigenous Trustee for the Near North Board in 2002. She represents seven First Nations within the NNDSB catchment area. She is also the education counsellor at Moose Deer Point First Nation.
Howard Wesley, trustee for zone 4 representing the Parry Sound area, was voted in as vice chair. It’s the first time in many years that the NNDSB has had two trustees from the Parry Sound area leading the organization.
The board also voted previous runner-up Caren Gagne to replace Lougheed as trustee for zone 2.