2016’s school board was appointed in 2013, and even then it was comprised of people elected in 2009. It hasn’t changed since, despite the promise of a new election years ago.

In 2013, the PC government merged all English-speaking schools into one board as a cost-cutting measure. Those school board members were chosen from the pool of members elected in the 2009 school board elections; there would have been a school board election later in the year, had the merger not taken place. So the board hasn’t really had new blood since 2009.

News recently broke that the government plans to delay electing a new board by as much as a year. NDP Education Critic Lorraine Michael has been vocal on the matter this week.

“When [the current board] was appointed, we were promised an election in 2014. The previous government demonstrated little or no interest in letting the public vote on the people that have the ultimate responsibility for our schools, and the current government apparently has the same attitude.”

Michael is concerned because education, like other government services, will likely face drastic cuts this year. “We have heard from parents and teachers at several schools that are facing possible closure,” she said. “I find it beyond acceptable that the final decisions will be made by a board that is, to be honest, well past its best-before date.”