After more than 40 years of involvement with public education in Airdrie and area, Jim Forrest is calling it a career.
The Ward 3 trustee for Rocky View Schools (RVS) announced Aug. 6 that he is not seeking re-election in the upcoming school board election on Oct. 18. Forrest was first elected as one of the public school division’s three Airdrie-based trustees in 2017.
“I truly am thankful to have had the opportunity to be able to continue serving Airdrie parents, students and school staff over the last four years [and] I’ve appreciated the feedback and support I’ve received,” he said.
“I just felt it was best for me at this time to move forward and try some different things. [I’d like to spend more] time with my family and grandkids, and maybe take the opportunity to do some of those things we may not have had the opportunity to do up to this point – travel and those traditional things.”
Forrest is no stranger to public education in Airdrie, having served RVS for 37 years as a teacher and principal. His education career saw him in the hallways and classrooms of École Airdrie Middle School, Bert Church High School, École Edwards, Ralph McCall School and C.W. Perry School, in addition to a stint at Kathyrn School.
In spending the last four years as a member of RVS’ board of trustees, Forrest said he noticed a few key differences between being in the public education system as an educator versus being in the system as an elected official.
“I think as a trustee, you do tend to look at things at a higher level,” he said. “When you’re looking at things from a higher level, sometimes it’s a little bit challenging to be able to really understand fully what’s happening at the ground level, in the classroom with teachers and administration on a daily basis. For me, that was the greatest challenge I had [as a trustee].
“Fortunately, I could take a look at things that were going on and with the level of experience I had, I was able to make some of those decisions we had to make, which were sometimes not easy.”
Forrest said one of RVS’ strengths during his term as a trustee has been the division’s effort to consult with families before making big decisions.
“During the last four years, we’ve made a real definite attempt and effort to reach out to stakeholders and solicit information and get the kind of feedback [we needed],” he said. “We worked hard to involve parents, students and staff in the decisions we would take.”
Another strength of the division, according to Forrest, is RVS’ ability to be innovative when it comes to providing individualized or specialized learning programs.
“You look at The Farm, Building Futures or the Cam Clark Ford partnership – those kinds of things are not always easy to create or maintain,” he said. “We’ve also tried very hard to create the kind of scenario where kids had opportunities that went beyond the four walls of the classroom.”
For whoever his replacement may be on the board this fall, Forrest said his advice for the incoming trustee is to try to be as involved as possible in the workings of Airdrie’s schools, and take advantage of the opportunity to understand the issues that impact them.
“When you visit school councils, it’s important to listen, obtain that feedback and share with parents the different pieces and arguments that may be presenting themselves,” he said. “That at times may be conflicting, and what you want to be able to do in those cases is take that feedback with you back into the board so you can make the best decisions possible.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
