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Mark Bailey elected chair of the Upper Grand District School Board

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release
December 5, 2012

GUELPH, Ontario – Mark Bailey, a trustee representing wards 1 and 5 in the City of Guelph, has been elected Chair of the Upper Grand District School Board. Bailey took over the reins from Orangeville trustee Bob Borden, who had earlier indicated that he would not seek a ninth term as board chair.

Trustee Marty Fairbairn, who represents Guelph Ward 6 and Puslinch Township, was elected as Vice-chair. 

The positions are for a one-year term ending November 30, 2013.

Bailey was first elected to the Board in 2006, and was Vice-chair during the preceding year. He has chaired the Board’s Program Committee, and has held several leadership positions in the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA). He is currently the Second Vice-President of OPSBA.

Marty Fairbairn was elected for a second term as a school board trustee in 2010, having earlier been in office from 2003 to 2006. For the past two years Fairbairn has been Chair of the Board’s Business Operations Committee. It is his second time as Vice-chair of the Board, previously filling the role in 2006.

In his speech to the Board, Bailey praised Bob Borden’s emphasis on consensus building, leadership and support for fellow trustees and staff, and vowed to emulate that style. “I recognize that the success that I hope to achieve in this position will be measured directly by the success that we have, as a team of trustees working effectively together.”

“Our current labour climate certainly looms as our greatest immediate challenge,” Bailey told trustees. Upper Grand is the first and only public board in the province to have a ratified agreement with secondary school teachers, but negotiations with elementary teachers and other union groups have been hampered by growing opposition to Bill 115.

Bailey said the positive relationships that the Board has cultivated with both union groups and the Ministry of Education have had a direct effect on service delivery to our children. “Our bargaining team has so far done an exemplary job in walking this tightrope.”

The Board must say focused on resolving the labour challenges, Bailey said, while preserving relationships that have taken years to cultivate. “Our students are counting on it.”

Trustees were also elected and acclaimed to serve as the Chairs and Vice-chairs of the board’s two Standing Committees:

Full text of speech by Chair Mark Bailey

For more information:

Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
[email protected]

Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer – Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
[email protected]

 

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